Global food tourism is the new big thing, and it's being driven by the "millennials", the generation of 25 to 34-year-old “hipster foodies” who travel the world specifically in search of local tastes and flavours - and who share their experiences with the rest of the world instantly on social media.

Given Scotland’s enviable reputation for having some of the world's best produce, this is exactly the demographic it could and should be attracting.

But is it?

Recent surveys suggest that trying local food is the second main activity for tourists to this country, that they spend one-fifth of their holiday money on food, and that the food tourism sector is worth around £2.5 million a day to the economy. However, many feel there is yet greater potential to be tapped, a conviction that prompted the inaugural Taste for Tourism symposium in Oban last week. Its premise was “Does Scotland have what it takes to be a global food destination?” and it echoed the ambitions of the National Tourism Strategy 2020.

Food and drink-wise, the question is a no-brainer. What is an issue is the lack of collaboration between local businesses in most of the country’s 15 tourism areas in getting the message across.

Rebecca Mackenzie, the engaging executive director of the Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance, spoke of the importance of building partnerships. She revealed that while developing the successful Prince Edward County's Taste Trail in 2003, she looked to Scotland - and particularly the Taste of Arran partnership of local businesses and producers, established in 1999 - as a shining example of good practice. "You guys already have a global food tourism destination right in front of you, and you've proven you can do it," she said.

Good eating experiences create indelible food memories that lure tourists (and their online followers) back to the place they first tasted them. This can utterly transform local economies.

Scotland cannot rest on its laurels and must become more unified. What emerged at the symposium was a fragmented network of new, established and emerging food operations across all 15 tourism regions. Skye and Speyside were among those named and shamed by delegates as being poor collaborators. Staff at a certain Glasgow city centre hotel direct tourists to its own restaurant when asked for recommendations of where to eat out in the city, because they get paid to do so. That possessive, insular attitude is not only old-fashioned; it's counter-intuitive in the current climate where the sharing of information is as natural as breaking an egg.

There was also interesting input Camille Chamard, director of the Pau-Bayonne institute for business management and a specialist in place marketing. In creating a gastro-territory it’s imperative, he said, that those in charge of it have a leader working to an agreed food tourism strategy with “clear governance”. Private and public stakeholders have to collaborate to maximise the positive impact of their projects on the territory, but all too often they have different visions. Even in the French tourist industry, the issue of leadership is unresolved and frustrating.

Those who work alone may travel fast, he cautioned, but if they work with others they will travel far. Scotland take note.