Rebecca Gordon

Destination Development Specialist

rebecca@culinarytourismalliance.com

Rebecca participates in destination development projects at the Culinary Tourism Alliance. She enjoys conducting research, building memorable visitor experiences, and sharing culinary tourism best practices. 

Rebecca fell in love with working in the tourism industry when she got her first restaurant job working at a cidery in her hometown of Caledon. She loved being a part of a team that helped develop the cidery’s local food and cider program. Sharing this program with visitors and witnessing their excitement was incredibly rewarding and fun. From that point on, Rebecca became an avid supporter and champion of local food. Throughout her career, Rebecca has worked at a variety of Feast On® certified restaurants and she has also worked with organizations like Food Day Canada, Slow Food Canada, and the University of Guelph to help put Canadian food on the map. 

Rebecca also holds a Master of Science degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management from the University of Guelph.  Since completing her degree, she has led a variety of tourism research projects. Past projects have included measuring job quality to learn how to better retain tourism workers, developing local food strategies, and assessing sustainability initiatives of tourism businesses. Her research work has been published in academic journals, cited in national news pieces, and presented to government leaders. 

Rebecca is eager to pair her experience with supporting agritourism businesses with her research skills to be able to help destinations grow their culinary tourism offerings.