"I think the key word is experience," says chef Michael Smith when he speaks about Prince Edward Island as a destination for food-focused tourists.

"Today's travellers are much more savvy than they were 10 or 20 years ago. They are not looking to just observe or taste, they want to experience."

Smith is the Island's official food ambassador, an award-winning cookbook author, a professional chef and host of numerous food-related television programs. He's also the host of the Prince Edward Island Fall Flavours festival: a series of events, held throughout the month of September, designed to showcase the Island's strengths as a culinary destination.

"Prince Edward Island is one of the best places in North America to experience what a local food culture is all about," says Smith. "Our food culture is woven into the fabric of everything we do every day. Everybody here knows somebody who produces food in some way, shape or form. It's just part of life on the Island-you don't have to go far to find authentic food experiences."

During the Fall Flavours festival, those authentic food experiences can include harvesting oysters or digging clams-then feasting on them, right there on the beach. It might mean field-to-fork events, in which visitors have an opportunity to meet agricultural producers and taste produce at the farm gate, or to dig up their own potatoes for dinner.

"Travellers want to dive right in, and that really is the cornerstone of our growing prominence as a food destination," says Smith. He points out that, in addition to alll kinds of great food and restaurant-type experiences, visitors can even pull on a pair of boots and go lobster fishing. "Those are the sorts of things that are really pushing us ahead."

The month-long festival will shine a spotlight on Island farmers, fishers and chefs with more than 250 culinary and cultural events in communities across the Island. And although this particular festival is specific to PEI, Smith says the entire region has really matured as a culinary destination.

"The Maritimes have come a long way in the last eight years. We really have grown up, so to speak. We've come to recognize what we have in our own midst-the things that are in our own backyard that are unique, and worth telling the world about," says Smith.

"The things that we might have overlooked and taken for granted in the past-it turns out that those are exactly the authentic experiences that resonate with visitors from all over the world."

"A lot of people are piling onto this culinary tourism marketing initiative all over the globe, but many of them are having to start from scratch. We are not. We've already got the product. What's new is the focus on the product."

And the product, without question, is unique. During Fall Flavours, visitors can taste Acadian rappie pie-also known as râpure. They can sample bannock-or as it's known by the Mi'kmaq people, "lusgnign," or savour seaweed pie, potato fudge or moonshine straight from the still.

They can see chocolate as it's being made at Avonlea Village or taste award-winning preserves-just a few examples of what makes PEI a charming and compelling destination for lovers of both food and travel.

Smith, ever the ambassador, sums up the Island's appeal this way: "Prince Edward Island is a giant green farm floating in the deep blue sea, surrounded by sandy white beaches-full of the flavours and passionate people that make our food culture so strong and vibrant."