Taste of Place Leadership Program

The Taste of Place Leadership course teaches DMO professionals how to support the growth of culinary and agritourism in their communities. The program will run from mid-September to mid-November, 2025 with a combination of self-paced online learning modules, workbook activities and online group discussions.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this program, you will be able to:

Define your destination's taste of place and identify storytelling opportunities
Learn how to identify and evaluate your destination’s culinary and agritourism assets
Provide targeted support to businesses in the Culinary Tourism Value Chain
Leverage best practices in culinary and agritourism to help coach businesses to develop multisensory taste of place experiences
Use strategic initiatives, culinary and agritourism trails, ambassador programs, and events to attract food tourists to your destination

After completing the program, you'll receive a Taste of Place Leadership certificate and your achievement will be celebrated online by the Culinary Tourism Alliance.

Who can benefit from this program

Taste of Place Leadership Training is designed for destination professionals from organizations, including:

Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs)
Regional Tourism Organizations (RTOs)
Economic Development Departments
Sector Organizations
Provincial or Federal Departments or Agencies
Municipal Governments

Program Delivery

The course consists of self-paced online learning modules with supporting workbook activities. Learners will also participate in synchronous sessions led by experienced culinary tourism professionals, and interactive online group discussions facilitating the exchange of ideas and best practices with other professionals in your cohort.

Seats are limited to ensure there are opportunities for meaningful discussions within the cohort. The program will begin in Fall 2025. The expected time commitment for this program is approximately 14 hours over the course of 3 months.

Program Pricing

$3,000 per participant (Culinary Tourism Alliance members are eligible for a 10% discount).

Self-Paced Learning Modules

- Defining Culinary Tourism, Agritourism, and Taste of Place
- Discussing emerging trends and target markets
- Culinary and agritourism market readiness
- Identifying, evaluating, and mapping food businesses in your destination
- Developing relationships with food businesses
- Understanding common challenges faced by food businesses
- Best practices in culinary and agritourism experience development
- Coaching businesses as they develop their visitor experiences
- Crafting compelling culinary and agritourism destination narratives to attract visitors
- Working with operators to capture their taste of place stories
- Understanding the opportunities for culinary and agritourism programs and products
- Case studies of culinary and agritourism trails, events and accreditations
- Aligning culinary and agritourism growth with existing destination strategies

Group Discussion Sessions

Group sessions after each module encourage the exchange of ideas, discussion of challenges, resolutions, opportunities, and best practices. Attendance in every group session is not mandatory to receive a certificate, but it is expected that participants will be able to attend 4 out of the 5 sessions.

Group Discussions led by:

Rebecca Mackenzie, President and CEO
Gabrielle Mueller, Marketing Manager
Ian Worte, Destination Development Manager

Discussion 1

Identifying your Destination’s Taste of Place
Date: September 19th, 2025
Discussion 2

Building Relationships with Culinary & Agritourism Businesses
Date: October 3rd, 2025
Discussion 3

Coaching Businesses to Deliver Market-Ready Food Experiences
Date: October 17th, 2025
Discussion 4

Telling Your Taste of Place Story
Date: October 31st, 2025
Discussion 5

Culinary Trails & Strategic Initiatives
Date: November 15th, 2025