we are not only about cheetah skins and gumboot dancing. - Cape Town is a top destination for the food tourist â innum
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How did I become a sensory experience designer? HI there, my name is Caro de Waal and I am a sensory food experience designer. Quite a mouthful! Most people look very perplexed when I say that and so I’m trying to improve on my elevator pitch. But if I say it slowly, I am simply describing what I do – Sensory, Food, Experience, Designer. -
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I have done so many different thing sin my life – but always told to stick to one thing! My mother nearly died when I kept chopping & changing my mind. Studying a bit of this and then a bit of that. Fine Art morphed into graphic art – wasn’t cool enough for me at that time. I did a stint in 3D animation, then I was a web designer for a few years. Then I changed EVERYTHING and decided to become a chef. Silwood – 3 years, then catering company, then 5 years in food media with ed-in-chief at food24.com
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Then came EAT DESIGN.
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Trying and studying many things meant that I could created a niche profession for myself which merges many different professions. And I’m
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not the only one who is doing this. The term experience designer is starting to become something that companies and brands seek out to create and conceptualise new ways to entertain their guests or to represent something in a new and unique way. -
Its really interesting, as the world is moving and changing so fast, we are going to find this happening much more. Our children will be doing jobs that haven’t been invented yet.
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My work. Whats really wonderful is that every time it is different, I’m always having to learn something new Pairing food to paintings – Here, it was interesting to place food in an unexpected environment to create curiosity. -
Laser cutting – what substrates work best How to stretch a photograph Paint in chocolate Paint in wine Make wind behave Change the colour of a room How to harness flavour in smoke How to make edible perfumes X-ray vegetables
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Seated food experiences with sensory triggers I did a few things for the Spier Secret Popup and this is what drove me to leave 24 and start my own business. The feedback was so positive – many requests People loved engaging in new tastes and ways to enjoy their food They loved the different formats – eg: smoking jar with a light in it Not fancy at all, just interesting. Newspaper, plastic and wooden cutlery, compostible plates, candles in paper bags – loved it Street food is an amazing ‘new’ trend - its been around for centuries but it has become an accepted way to eat and explore a countries culture and food. Before people wouldn’t have dreamed of eating the food off the street in a bustling Thai neighbourhood, now its what people go especially to do. I remember when I was pregnant with my first – I was completley shocked when my husband offered me some street food…. By the end of the trip, I was eating fresh fish cooked by a vendor on a plastic chair down a sode street in Bangkok – I realised, this
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was how the people all eat, this was their culture, and I wanted to be part of it.
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Sight, sound, touch, smell, taste – Memories are made from simple nostalgic cues 4 Seasons: This was very interesting – taking something as simple and relatable at our seasons and using sensory cues to create an experience. Sight and environment – changed the colour of the room – people put jerseys on cold, took off for hot. The food was what I feel represents summer…. What does winter taste like?? – calamari with spicy mayo for summer, comforting bean and ham hock stew for winter. Sound – sound track of waves and rain and wind
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So I create Experiential flavour installations. They are designed to create the unexpected, turn the ordinary into extraordinary and to inspire thought. To get people to engage with these installations and therefore have a new experience. People want to look at things in a different way – they want to experience life away from the stresses and strains of their daily lives. They want to excite their minds and try something new. No more sitting safe… its all about pushing the boundaries, jumping off cliffs, climbing mountains and trying new and crazy food.
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So, what does this have to do with Attractions Africa? I asked myself the same question. But I realised – we are all in the same business. The business of experience. Experience has become a commodity, a new currency. Its all about building new memories, creating moments and…. sharing them. -
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So, If we look at Social Media – this has become part of our daily lives, my 1 yr old could swipe an ipad whereas I only started using a computer seriously after school. Nevermind computers – its all on mobile now. 24.com went mobile first 4 years ago and their traffic on mobile far surpasses their desktop traffic now – in last 2 years. Everyone has one, used to communicate. Not on a call but all in a digital realm on various and MANY platforms. 5 years ago there weren’t proper courses for learning how to use social media as a tool in marketing – now there are many. Bandwidth is the oxygen of the most of us – even my mother is starting to get frustrated when she can’t Whats App me when shes travelling – my sister went travelling a year ago and no 1 thing was her phone and her tablet and the charges.
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Wi-fi is the life blood of the Millenial. Hell, not only the millenials – I am a little ‘iffy’ if I go away and have a ‘No SIGNAL’ icon on my phone. Even in the bush, the public demand to have wi-fi. WI-fi is something that will hook people in and get them to stay at your attraction. It also enables people TO SHARE what they are seeing in real-time.
- If there is no wi-fi somewhere, and I am excited to be there, I might take a few pics but the chances are slimmer that I will post something about it on FB or IG or Twitter later on… the moment has PASSED GET wi-fi people.
es
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So yes… the selfie. - It is just so… un… expected? WHO would have thought that THIS is what people would be doing in 2016. - Perfect example of how people these days view ‘experience’. - They want to show what they are doing, IN REAL TIME, WHEN they are doing it and the key that relates to you all - WHERE they are doing it, GET WI-FI.
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People go out of their way to create moments to showcase, like seriously out of their way!
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More selfi-deaths than shark attacks
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Russia – government released guide
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Recorded deaths of people being bitten by Snakes, tragic tragic deaths of shooting themselves with gusn, electrocution on tops of trains, flying light aircraft Falling off cliffs
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Yellowstone issued warning – don’t pose with the bison Would you pose in front of this creature?
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SO how do you capitalise on this new experience currency? You need to Enhance your attraction to have something that can prompt people to ‘make a memory’
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Create something that is sharable – an immediate experience that showcases your attraction and an experience for your guest to the share with their friends… talk about it, or share on their mobiles.
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Brilliant example of this is the CT Yellow window – very simple but it worked like a charm
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Even though you have table mountain as your view, the window prompts people to capitalise on this and create a shareable moment.
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Here’s another good example. The Ocmapny Garden Restaurant. This place was an absolute ZERO memory space – I had never gone to the Company Gardens – went once ages ago – faded memory of and old fuddy duddy resto with a stale muffin... It changed hands and became a place where I HAD to go and see because everyone was suddenly talking about it – and this is me, a LOCAL – this is not only for International tourists. I learned about it through word of mouth and through social media -…. ‘Have you been?’ Its amazing, did you see the nests?’ Did you swing in the chairs?’ The excitement was palpable and it spread like wildfire. What I have learned over the years is that: People will travel far for 1. Good food and 2. Something special In this case, they didn’t talk about the food or the actual restaurant… but the experiences around the restaurant that they had. This made me want to go and see it for myself – EVEN though I could see their pictures all over FB and what was being tweeted or Instagramed.
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I WANTED TO SEE IT FOR MYSELF. Its human nature, people don’t really believe other people until they see it for themselves. So here, it was about creating a new space – an experiential space where the visitor CAN CHOOSE what to do and HOW to experience it. Do it at your own pace, with your family… with your friends, do it by yourself AND TAKE A SELFIE and share it to the world.
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Lets talk about making your attraction authentic You need to create special things for your visitors to experience the authenticity of your attraction – it is already authentic, otherwise it would not be an attraction, you woldn’t be there in the first place. -
SO - You need to capitalise on the authenticity of your attraction
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Ask yourself – what makes your attraction special? What is unique about it, what makes it an experience like NO OTHER.
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Ask yourself - What memory will you create for the visitor to take with them? What can you do to ENHANCE THE MEMORY of your attraction?
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Then - Create something authentic that is specific to only your attraction
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A personal touch – shows you have thought about them - if you serve food, don’t use an external caterers who don’t care and will serve the same old same as somewhere else)
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And, it does not need to be expensive
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Look at The Dassie Biscuit
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– very simple, cheap, kids make their parents buy them one – it keep the kids quiet for a while and it also starts the conversation ‘What is a dassie?’ –’Lets loof for a Dassie’ , ‘Ohhhh we saw a Dassie’ – so there is a little bit of learning there to. Something to SHARE. They created a moment that is shareable – take a pic and show your friends, share it on Facebook or send it to your sister via Whats App.
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The pics on slide were taken off a random blog.
So what can you do? You don’t HAVE to build a whole theme park but you can make a small effort. Ideas?
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Park – special butterfly and bird outlines for kids to draw on at the table Seaside – shark bite cocktail Waterfall – marshmallows that are made from that pure water, or use some of the edible flowers to make a special cordial (we have plenty in the fynbos realm) Forest – jugs of pure rainwater collected only from there.
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Pleanty of ideas, low cost, not hard and the are personal.
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SO lets look at The food tourist Food has become a huge part of the tourist experience. Read this from an article by Ian Yeoman “The interest in food tourism is a representation of tourism today, in which culture has moved out of the museum and is represented in the experience economy with food tourism as one of the central spheres.” -
It is now a job to show people around, not only to attractions but to restaurants, markets, street food– very well paid.
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People want to experience a country through it’s food which reflects (in our case) the myriad of cultures, flavours and local ingredients and Also, what do the locals do? How do they enjoy themselves? They want to fit into the culture of their surroundings.
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Foodie: Is a person whose sole purpose is to experience a country and its cultures though it’s food. I am one of those. See the country though my food experiences. I Enjoy an attraction though its foodie offering – this could be as good as an amazing cup of coffee of special little cake or something.
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But not everyone is a foodie – but people associate places with food.
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good cheese in France, beer in Germany, mussels from Belgium. People attach memories to food experiences. If you look at the tourists who come to Africa - they are always after something African, they want to have crocodile, they want to go to a township – they want to see something ‘authentic.’ It is up to the attraction to create this authentic experience and show them we are not only about cheetah skins and gumboot dancing.
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Cape Town is a top destination for the food tourist – innumerable amount of top restaurants in SA – very affordable for the tourist.
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Not only about fine dining (not as affordable for local), but also about a new trend which is… the casual food experience. Things like: Farmers markets, craft beer, craft gin, street food, coffee shops – COFFEE IS A NON_NEGOTIABLE – you MUST have good coffee at your attraction. ‘Proper’ coffee, real beans, served well. All kinds of coffee now, my god its bigger than beer! What kind of beans you have – is it fair trade and sustainably sourced? Cold brewed, iced, lattes, Americano, mochas, cold brewed over ice. Hot brewed over ice. Etc etc.
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Other things that are popular are: Food Trucks – people love them, they are moveable, they are choose-able – decide which style of food you want. Coffee trucks. Look at The Science Centre – they brought in a couple of food trucks and coffee trucks at one stage and we got Whats Apps from friends saying – look where we are, get here quickly. The spin off was that the kids got to play and visit the Science centre and we got to enjoy something fun.
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The Casual food trend is huge and its going nowhere.
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Its all about more affordable food and drinks, very fashionable – go and be seen, not so stiff.
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Hotdog, hamburger joints, BBQ huge, craft beer and big food
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Places without waitrons! Biergarten on Bree - practically feed yourself. Hotdogs and craft beer. Coining it!
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Diner-style eateries popping up everywhere with really good, down to earth food. Popping at the seams with locals and tourists as well. Bree Street has been named by the NY times as The Bree Street Precinct because of its boom. Most of the restaurants and bars are casual dining.
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Food tourism has actually become quite MAINSTREAM… and so therefore vital that your attraction address this.
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This means tightening up on all those food offerings at your attractions in order to hook people in to create longer stays and more shareable experiences through the food and drink.
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Next page..
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So in conclusion: How do you enhance your experience? 1. 2. 3.
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Make it Authentic Make it personal Follow the trends – you can choose how many you want to include – can just be good coffee, or its craft beer, good coffee and a special burger. The Lions Head Burger. Create something special that creates a moment Create something special that is shareable
Thank you.
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