Master's thesis tourism and Local Food and Beverages

2.3.7 Food-related tourism 
"The concept of food related tourism includes food tourism, gastronomy tourism, culinary 
tourism, and others. These several names have been frequently used in explaining the 
phenomenon of using food as an instrument for fostering tourism at a specific destination" 
(Lin, 2006, P.10-11). 
17 

---

Chapter 2. Literature Review 
2.3.7.1 Food tourism: 
Food tourism refers to visiting primary or secondary food producers, food festivals, 
restaurants and specific locations in order to experience and taste foods, especially food 
productive regions are the primary motivating factor for travel (Hall & Sharples, 2003). Hall 
& Sharples (2003) divided food tourism into four parts based on special interest in food as a 
travel motivation. The segmentation is based on these criteria: 
1) Traveling to a destination with high interest of food and all tourist activities are food 
related. They label this segment as gourmet /cuisine/ gastronomic tourism. 
2) Culinary tourism is a moderate interest of food and this type of food-related tourism 
represents participation in food related activities at the destination. 
3) rural/urban tourism is a low interest of food. Travelers participate in food related activities 
just out of curiosity. 
4) This segment represents No/Low interest activities that are related to food. Tourists go to 
restaurant because they have to eat. 
"In short, food tourism should be understood from diverse viewpoints, because food serves 
multiple functions in tourism and goes beyond the biological needs in tourists' minds" 
(Fields, 2002, Hall & Mitchell, 2003 as cited in Lin, 2006 P.12). 
2.3.7.2 Gastronomic tourism 
A simple definition for gastronomy is the enjoyment of food and beverages. Another 
definition cited by Santich, (2004) regards gastronomy as the art and science of delicate 
eating. He defines gastronomy tourism as tourism or travel motivated at least in part by an 
interest in food and drink or eating and drinking. He also suggested that gastronomy tourism, 
since it is mainly about engaging in another culture associated with a particular place and 
people, should be regarded as a subset of cultural tourism, thereby a wide range of cuisine 
and agricultural activities are developed for the tourists who are involved with foods and 
beverages. He also mentions that, gastronomy tourism has recently experienced a shift of 
focus from production to consumption. 
According to Scarpto, (2002) gastronomy studies are in direct relationship with certain 
processes such as the production of food and the means by which foods are produced; the 
18 

---

Chapter 2. Literature Review 
political economy; the treatment of foods, their storage and transport and processing; their 
preparation and cooking; meals and manner; the chemistry of food, digestion and the 
physiological effects of food; food choices, and customs and traditions.