Kshitij Ratan

Culinary Tourism Alliance

Our mission is to ensure food tourism is a meaningful and sustainable contributor to local economies in destinations worldwide. The Culinary Tourism Alliance works with communities to grow food tourism by leveraging the history, heritage, and culture behind the food and drink that makes each destination unique. Operating as a not-for-profit food tourism development organization, our mandate is to: Cultivate members and share their stories Develop criteria-based accreditation for the foodservice industry to support local food systems Provide strategic support to grow food and agritourism Curate authentic content and experiences The Culinary Tourism Alliance was established in 2006 to implement the 2005-2015 Ontario Culinary Tourism Strategy and Action Plan on behalf of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Sport. In 2011, we incorporated as a not-for-profit industry organization devoted to supporting the growth and development of food tourism worldwide. The Culinary Tourism Alliance works with communities to grow food tourism by leveraging the history, heritage, and culture behind the food and drink that makes each destination unique. Our food tourism focus includes agritourism, cultural tourism, ecotourism, rural tourism and sustainable tourism. Community engagement is central to all of our projects. Meeting growers, producers, chefs, business owners, economic developers, destination marketers, and everyone in between is the most rewarding part of our work. We strive to always be inclusive and look through a culturally-sensitive lens.