In its broadest sense, Culinary Tourism is defined as the pursuit of unique and memorable culinary experiences of all kinds, often while traveling, but one can also be a culinary tourist at home.
The phrase "unique and memorable" is key to understanding culinary tourism. Many times people hear "culinary tourism" and they think it means restaurants that have earned 5 stars or better, or high-end wineries. That is not the case, as culinary tourism is not exclusively what is pretentious or exclusive. Culinary Tourism includes a local pastry shop, an interesting bar on a nameless street that only locals know about, the pretzel vendor on the streets of New York City, or a gelato vendor on a historic street in Italy. Higher-end experiences fall into a subset of culinary tourism called "Gourmet Tourism". In fact, wine tourism, beer tourism and spa cuisine are also subsets of culinary tourism. Culinary Tourism is not agritourism. While the seeds of cuisine are in agriculture, and agriculture and cuisine are inextricably linked, the two are very different. Agritourism is a subset of rural tourism, while cuisine is a subset of cultural tourism, as cuisine is a manifestation of culture.
Culinary Tourism includes culinary experiences of all kinds. It's much more than dining guides and restaurant weeks. It encompasses cooking schools, cookbook and kitchen gadget stores, culinary tours and tour leaders, culinary media and guidebooks, caterers, wineries, breweries, distilleries, food growers and manufacturers, culinary attractions and more. Authenticity is also of critical importance to culinary tourists. While we say that one pursues these experiences while traveling, local residents can be culinary tourists in their own town. How often do we get set in our ways, frequenting our same favorite restaurants or rarely leaving our neighborhoods? Making the effort to trek across town to try an interesting new place is indeed culinary tourism.