What kind of food offering do foreign guests want from you?
The British food and restaurant scene has never been in better health. More Michelin stars were handed out to UK restaurants in 2010 than at any other time in the 35-year history of the gastronomic award. And our greatest chefs are respected around the world. So why is it that overseas visitors still refer to Britain's poor food reputation so persistently? New research from VisitBritain set out to find out more.
According to new research from VisitBritain, if you want to delight your overseas guests, you should serve them a Full English Breakfast. Their survey asked 26,000 people across 35 countries to rate the extent to which they agreed with the statement, "I've always wanted to try a Full English Breakfast". Of the UK's top 10 markets by volume, only the Irish and the Germans disagreed.
However, the research reveals that the UK hospitality industry still has work to do to persuade the rest of the world that our cuisine is one of our national assets.
Respondents were asked to grade the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with the statement, "British food is very bad". The majority of nations disagreed with the statement. These included several countries that send large numbers of tourists to the UK, such as the USA (2.9 million visitors a year), Australia (0.9 million) and Ireland (2.9 million).
However, the nations that agreed the statement that "British food is very bad" included six out of the top 10 nations that send tourists to the UK. These included France (3.8 million visitors a year), Germany (2.8 million) and Spain (2.2 million).
