VisitBritain, the tourism authority for Britain, has linked up with Food from Britain (FFB) to launch a campaign to boost tourist numbers by promoting regional British food.
Speaking at the launch last week, tourism minister Richard Caborn said: "A country's cuisine can be a key element of a holiday. That's why we must strive to ensure that British food and drink gets the best possible press abroad."
An FFB survey found 18% of overseas visitors could be regarded as "food tourists" and that 66% would welcome more regional and local food on menus. In 2001, they spent more than £2.3b on food-and-drink-related activities.
The campaign aims to broaden the availability of local and regional produce across the country and build awareness of Britain's diverse culinary traditions. Stage one is a "call for action" through a new Food and Drink in Britain Advisory Guide that illustrates how tourism, food and drink businesses can work together more profitably to expand Britain's food tourism offer. By the end of the year, VisitBritain's website will have a dedicated food and drink area detailing Britain's culinary heritage.
Tom Wright, chief executive at VisitBritain, said the partnership would help to dispel many myths about Britain's food and drink. "Although visitors have a limited knowledge at present of Britain's cuisine, research has shown that they're interested in sampling local food and drink and learning more about how it's made," he said.
The number of overseas visitors to the UK continued to recover from the ravages of 11 September, the Iraq war and the Sars epidemic in the three months to August, according to the latest International Passenger Survey.
Overall trips from abroad grew by 2% year on year to 7.9 million during the quarter, and are 6% ahead at 24.3 million for the 12 months to August. Spending by foreign tourists dropped marginally by 1% to £3.87b during the quarter, but has grown by 6% to £11.7b for the year to August.
During the quarter, visitor numbers grew by 4% to 4.7 million from Western Europe and by 8% to 1.7 million from the rest of the world.
Although the number of trips from North America fell by 7% to 1.47 million, this was a marked improvement on the previous quarter, when visitor numbers fell by 14%.