Ludlow's foodie crown still in place

It may have lost its Michelin starred restaurants but Ludlow still draws the crowds of those after the best in local produce, town traders say, as the town has bagged the number two slot for food tourism on one of the internet's leading travel sites, hot on the heels of a national newspaper rating its farmers market as in the top 20 in the country.

While almost every town of a certain size has it own food festival these days, Ludlow was a pioneer, and the town's culture and economy is still geared around food, as figures released by Booking.com revealed.

The website has released its top 10 UK food hotspots based on more than 118 million real traveller reviews on its pages – and Ludlow, described as a "charming market town", came second only to Padstow, and beat Birmingham in third place.

Further down the list were Harrogate, Leeds, Stow on the Wold, Aberdeen, Leicester, Bristol and Cardiff.

Tish Dockerty, who is secretary of Ludlow Chamber of Commerce and also involved with Ludlow 21 food and farming group, said Padstow was top of the list due to the presence of heavyweight TV chef Rick Stein who owns multiple establishments in the town.

But she said it was good to hear Ludlow was still up there in the top three, holding its own against much larger towns and cities.

"It's re-assuring Ludlow is still the centre of good, honest local food and drink, and it's not all about restaurants or stars.

"Our farmers market was also voted in the top 20 in the country by the Telegraph recently."

The paper's From Field to Fork: 20 Best Farmers' Markets in Britain list praised the regular town centre fixture saying: "Here, everything you see – rhubarb cordial, goats cheese, dry cured bacon – will have come from within a 30-mile radius of Ludlow."

Pepijn Rijvers, chief marketing officer at Booking.com, said 75 percent of global travellers said they would likely travel somewhere renowned for its great food and drink when choosing their next travel destination.

He said: "Culinary travel is an ever-growing trend, with travellers planning trips centred on taste-inspired exploration and seeking to fully immerse themselves in the local culture, of which food plays a huge part. Not only are people looking for luxury gastronomic experiences, but also sampling local and street food."

He said Ludlow, with its farmers markets selling local produce and independent food shops, was one of the UK destinations that received the most endorsements for food.