Culinary tourism was characterized in the paper and the perspectives for its development were analyzed, as well as the possible uses of traditional and regional cuisine of the Podhale (mountain region of Małopolska) as a tourist product. Moreover, the cuisine of the Podhale Region was presented with its specialities, as well as the potential use of Polish regional cuisine in tourism to make it a tourist attraction, which may be of major importance for individual region or locality. It causes that a certain dish becomes identified with specific place, which attracts tourists to this region. Traditional dishes reflect also the customs prevalent in the given area; therefore a tourist may acquire information about the culture of the places he visits.