Local food and drink have increasing prominence as an economic driver of business. It gives destinations an extra layer of distinctiveness to attract tourists and assists with international efforts to cut carbon emissions through reducing food miles and using foods when in season. Encouraging more understanding of this important sector therefore has many benefits. This project will bring 20 professionals with the responsibility for developing/delivering training from the food & drink, tourism & hospitality and academic sectors to visit South Iceland for a seven day period. We consider this as an ideal duration for this type of activity, as participants will have the chance to take part in a variety of visits, attend workshops and presentations without being away from the workplace for too long. As many of the participants will be from small rural businesses, 7 days will allow them to study away from the workplace without too much disruption and the possible loss of productivity. There they will learn about special initiatives to promote traditional foods, co-operative business marketing and tourism promotions that encourage greater understanding and increased economic benefits for the participating businesses as well as the wider destination.Over the course of the visit, the participants will see how various cluster groups have formed and the impact they are achieving. They will hear from organisers of farmers markets, farm shops, developers of food festivals and gastro-tourist itineraries to encourage greater awareness and understanding. And they will learn from restaurants and chefs about the importance of sourcing and promoting local food menus. Most importantly they will gain an appreciation of the growing desire for authentic local experiences and the important role cuisine can play in that. everyone should be able to take ideas back to their workplace which can be developed, implemented or improved depending on individual circumstances. Our academic participants along with The Ayrshire Chamber will work together to support new delivery models and curriculum as a result of this project and its results. We will be encouraging participants to research some of their local specialities and to give it prominence, or possibly re-introduce it to menus wherever possible. The project should provide inspiration and confidence to all participants to return to their workplace and share their knowledge with staff and peers to provide a sustainable food tourism product for the benefit of the business, the visitor and the wider economy.Iceland has a rich and varied cuisine with a colourful international reputation for some of the more traditional tastes enjoyed locally. The group will learn about the techniques employed by fellow hospitality and tourism professionals to get beyond these perceptions whilst ensuring the public relations value of eating "rotting shark" is maintained to their distinct advantage. What is it that makes Icelandic lamb, or Icelandic seafood for example, taste so special? How can you encourage people to engage with more traditional ingredients (eg. skyr) for a positive experience? we will also cover examples using presentation of foods eg. soup served inside a locally baked bread loaf, using food and drink trails to bring buyers to suppliers and some innovative social media applications used with increasing success. Our project will involve 20 participants who will all have direct responsibilites for the vocational training and development of staff or be involved in developing short courses and qualifications relevant for the food & drink sector (producers) and the tourism & hospitality sector (buyers). Participants will be members of The Ayrshire Chamber e.g.: owners/operators of SMEs, farm shops, food producers, restaurateurs, accommodation providers, training providers, college/university lecturers and visitor attraction operators. We know, from experience, that such a Study Visit bringing together businesses across the various sectors encourages wider understanding of the others roles and opens up wider discussion/sharing of knowledge and provides the academic sector with direct, relevant and current information to build into current and future curriculum.The group will produce case studies as a direct result of this study visit which will be disseminated by the participants, The Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce, local and regional public sector organisations and then further disseminated to UK networks/colleagues. The case studies and presentations from the visit will be published on websites and made available to all who wish to use the products. Academic participants will use their knowledge, as well as the case studies, to integrate into relevant current curriculum and to use in planning and development of future curriculum. This will impact the local destination by providing and developing skills to ensure Ayrshire can compete in a european and global stage.