What is a foodie?

What is a foodie?
Foodies are dining hobbyists; individuals that value the experience of food and wine and raise it to an art form. The term was first coined in 1984 by Ann Levy and Paul Barr in their book, "The Foodie Handbook". Since then, many tourism destinations have jumped on the Foodie bandwagon marketing their food and wine related assets to attract tourists. The largest body of research on the topic was created and is currently maintained by David Bratton (Founder Destination Analysts) and Brian Baker (Managing Partner Cultivar Marketing). Baker speaks frequently on the topic to tourism and destination management groups.