Calgary Food Tours was been named a finalist for Best Culinary Experience at the 2016 Canadian Tourism Awards.

“The awards are presented annually by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada to recognize success, leadership and innovation in Canada’s tourism industry, and to reward those people, places, organizations and events that have gone above and beyond to offer travellers superior tourism experiences in Canada.” – TIAC

Calgary Food Tours was founded in 2006 by a pioneer in food tourism, Karen Anderson. Anderson says, “food is a language everyone speaks and its the fastest way to understand the daily life and culture of the place you are visiting. With so many people not having time to cook in their daily lives, it only makes sense that it becomes even more important when you are travelling and enjoying precious leisure time. We build every food tour as an opportunity for our guests to have an authentic experience of Alberta’s culture and they are always surprised and delighted with what they learn”.

Now operating in three Alberta cities – Calgary, Canmore and Edmonton – as Alberta Food Tours, Anderson says, “the company is poised for tremendous growth and its Alberta’s great food scene that makes the magic happen”.

A recent article in Vogue magazine called Bison and Breweries: Why you Should Eat Your Way Through Alberta, Canada speaks to the quality and authenticity first hand. Anderson and her team helped put together the itinerary for this article and many written about Alberta’s food scene each year.

While it would be fantastic to win the award, Anderson says, “the real privilege is to live in Alberta and work with so many great industry partners to serve Albertans and visitors to our province”.

Alberta Culinary Tourism Alliance and Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance are the other finalists for this award. It would indeed by a great honour for a small independent business like Calgary Food Tours to win with such great contributors in the running.