Foodies survey - make your opinion count!

How often food is the main motive for travelling to another region, state or country?

Researchers from The University of Queensland’s School of Tourism want to find out.

Professor Don Getz and lecturer Richard Robinson are so serious about their food tourism research, they have roped in executive chef from Hamilton restaurant Bretts Wharf, Alastair McLeod, to help them with a voucher offer for those who complete the survey. Find the survey at  www.tourism.uq.edu.au in the box on the left or just go here

Alastair said he considered himself a food tourist, with recent travel to the US and Canada to keep up with the latest trends.

"Research is essential. You rest, you rust! " he said. "Experiencing the food of a country or region is in itself experiencing the place. Taste and smell are two of our most powerful senses.

"The public are much more educated and interested about food. Television cooking shows have had an enormous influence, I think."

The UQ researchers hope to develop a scale to measure a person’s inclination to travel for food tourism, products and experiences.

Their Travel Food Involvement Scale will help Australian tourist operators and food festival organisers better understand the needs and wants of their customers.

I’ve completed the survey, which takes about 20 minutes.  It’s not hard and at the end there’s a voucher offer from Brett’s Wharf as a reward for your trouble.  Do it now as the survey ends on June 30.