Steven Keith speaks on culinary tourism during annual summit

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Steven Keith, known in many circles as “The Food Guy,” represented the importance of the culinary experience in tourist travel when he spoke to guests at the Jefferson County Tourism Summit on Tuesday.

Keith, who is a senior content director for Miles Partnership, is responsible for leading content strategy and creation in a variety of print, digital, social and integrated publishing programs for destinations across the country.

As a freelance food writer, “The Food Guy” has won top honors from the West Virginia Press Association as Best Lifestyles Columnist for his weekly column in the Charleston Gazette. He has also been published in Bon Appetit, Food Network and a variety of national, regional and state publications.

When speaking to culinary tourism, Keith said that in 2019, travel was at an all-time high, but when COVID hit in 2020, that travel stopped.

“Hospitality and culinary were hit the hardest,” he said, adding that now that people can travel again, West Virginia has become a travel destination. “Culinary travel is now a thing,” he added, saying that more than 60% of foodie enthusiasts plan their trips around food, often using social media to do so.

He shared data that in 2024, restaurants that had previously been in the top five focuses when planning travel are now at No. 1.

“This is across any age group,” he said, as he also stated that travelers desire unique culinary experiences.

Millennials, he said, are the group that drive research on food destinations the most, but it really is across all age groups.

“Cuisine is often a deal breaker,” Keith said.

The power of food is a strong one and can cause guests to immerse themselves in a place, reflect local heritage and culture of a location and serve as a gateway to customs and history of the destinations.

Keith attributed some of the fascination in the culinary focus to the explosion of food television, which has generated an interest in food preparation, cooking and plating. Taking pictures of food has become a common practice of travelers, who promptly post those photos to social media, which causes others to travel to the same destinations.

While culinary destinations are a planning tool, Keith said that it’s important to provide an entire package of a destination so that folks are not only planning to eat but to visit museums, historical sites and other places. It is important, he said, that cities, towns or counties embrace the importance of the culinary scene, because it can be such a driving force to attract visitors. He agreed that those culinary scenes must also be supported by the local communities, because tourist traffic will not allow the businesses to survive if locals don’t also frequent those locations.

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