The organisers of Taste for Tourism ran a competition offering the chance for a young person to address delegates at the event next week.
Winner Daniel Campbell can truly claim to be born and bred in the Scottish hospitality industry.
He started out clearing tables at his parents’ hotel on the shores of Loch Ness and, after studying at the Cesar Ritz School in Switzerland, worked at top restaurants such as Balmoral Number one, the Witchery Group and Martin Wishart.
Mr Campbell, who is now general manager at Edinburgh’s Royal Over-Seas League as well as running his own businesses, spends his free time touring Scotland’s most spectacular spots and enjoying its delicious local produce.
He said: “When I was in my teens a tourist asked me if I had been to Applecross, and to my embarrassment I had to say I hadn't.
“From that day on I set myself a goal to get around Scotland and to know my country and its food, heritage and culture.
“It's such a great privilege to be part of the great food revival here in Scotland. We live in a beautiful country with an abundance of locally-produced artisan foods.
“I love driving my partner and son all around Scotland, sampling the very best Scottish produce. From langoustines freshly caught at the Applecross Inn and eating fresh mussels on the pier at Oban, to spending a week in Islay tasting and visiting each distillery, my hobby is food and drink.”
As well as being his hobby and his day job, Mr Campbell also finds time to run a number of food businesses, two Cobbs coffee shops in Edinburgh and Fort Kinnaird.
As winner of Taste for Tourism’s competition to find a food and drink tourism champion, Mr Campbell will join industry experts James Withers, chief executive officer of Scotland Food & Drink, and Marc Crothall, the CEO of Scottish Tourism Alliance, as they put forward their opinions and expertise on how to shape the future of Scotland’s food and drink and tourism sectors.
The Taste for Tourism conference in Oban this November aims to catapult Scotland to the top of the wish list for tourists who see high quality food and drink as the main reason to travel.
The event will bring together food producers, hoteliers, caterers and travel firms to create more mouth-watering attractions and brand Scotland as a food destination.
The summit has a line-up of prestigious speakers including international experts responsible for setting up highly successful food destinations overseas.
It takes place in Oban, Argyll, on 4 November.
Taste for Tourism aims to explore how best to promote Scotland as a food tourism destination and identify how the industry can work together to recognise best practice in making this goal a reality.
The event is being organised by Food From Argyll and Argyll and the Isles Tourism Co-Operative, two not-for-profit organisations with a passion for promoting food and drink tourism.
Event partners include Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scotland Food and Drink, Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society, Caledonian MacBrayne, Argyll & Bute Council, VisitScotland and the Scottish Tourism Alliance.
The Year of Food and Drink Scotland 2015 is a Scottish Government initiative led by VisitScotland in partnership with EventScotland, Scotland Food & Drink and Think Local.
