Abstract
The relationship between food and tourism is well documented and a subject of increased academic interest. The role of gastronomy for the development of tourism is prominent from economic and socio-cultural perspectives, and there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate the critical role of food festivals, cultural traditions, and local customs from an intangible heritage perspective. Although food tourism has been explored and researched from a wide number of perspectives, its role in the context of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship has largely been neglected. This chapter seeks to address the gap in academic literature focusing on how food tourism can drive community development, stimulate local businesses, and inspire creativity and innovation. The chapter focuses on the development of food tourism and the role of gastronomy within the context of tourism development in Mexico. The results of this study highlight a number of creative and innovative approaches to food tourism and demonstrate the variety and diversity of food-related events in various parts of Mexico.
TopIntroduction
Gastronomy is traditionally related to the practices of consumption and enjoyment of food. As Mulcahy (2019) explains, contrary to the popular perception, gastronomy is not a twentieth-century phenomenon and has a long history. In his book La physiologie du goût (The physiology of taste), Brillat-Savarin (1994) refers to gastronomy as ‘everything connected with the nourishment of man’ and explains how gastronomic traditions emerged in France and how they were accessible only to a certain group of privileged individuals. Published in 1825, his book is one of the seminar writings about gastronomy and among the first titles to introduce gastronomy as a culinary art and ‘true science’ (Courtine, 1996, p.167). Gastronomy as a ‘true science’ but also as a discipline, has evolved substantially since Brillat-Savarin’s contribution and has become a far-reaching discipline that includes anything related to what we eat and drink and it is no longer a privilege of nobility but also includes regional and local cuisines. For Santich (1996, p.2), gastronomy refers to the production of food, the preparation, cooking, the art of serving and enjoying fine food.
Gastronomy has always played an important part in the context of tourism management and development from both consumption and experience perspectives. According to the Global Report on Food Tourism (UNWTO, 2012), food constitutes an essential part of every tourist’s budget and often accounts for 30-40% of the overall tourist expenditure (Boyne, Williams & Hall, 2002; Hall, Sharples, Mitchell, Macionis, & Cambourne, 2003; Horng, Liu, Chou & Tsai, 2012). According to Richards (2002), gastronomy has become a global industry and tourism plays a huge part in its development. The shift from a service-based economy to experience-based economy (Pine & Gilmore, 1999) has facilitated the emergence of ‘memorable experiences’ putting the role of food in the arena of experience production. Gastronomic activities which seek to provide more memorable, participatory and authentic experiences, have been developed at many destinations all over the world focusing for example, on cuisine, traditional food productions and dining experiences (see for example, Alonso & Northcote, 2010; Cohen & Avieli, 2004; Mak, Lumbers & Eves, 2012; Murayama, 2012; Pulido-Fernandez, Casado-Montilla & Carrillo-Hidalgo, 2019). Gastronomy has become a crucially important pillar of local and national economies (Kim, Yuan, Goh & Antun, 2009), a significant instrument for improving destination competitiveness (McKercher, Okumus & Okumus, 2008; Okumus, Okumus & McKercher, 2007) and a valuable tool used for marketing and advertising purposes (see for example, Lin, Pearson & Cai, 2011; Horng & Tsai, 2012; du Rand & Heath, 2006). Moreover, gastronomic tourism has emerged as a form of special interest tourism that represents the relationship between gastronomy and tourism and primarily referring to how food is marketed and promoted as a tourism product (Getz, Robinson, Andersson & Vujicic, 2014; Hjalager, 2002; Hall & Mitchell, 2001).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Gastronomy: It is the science that studies the connection between food, tradition and culture of a certain region or area. It looks at different ways on how food is prepared and how cooking styles differ from region to region. Gastronomy examines the value of foods and the meaning it has towards the cultural practices.
Food Tourism: It represents the type of tourism which has the main aim to experiment food from different countries and regions. It is also known as ‘culinary tourism’ which in the present days became a big and important part of overall tourist experience when visiting a destination.
Social Innovation: Idea that aims to improve the needs of a society. It implies studying and researching new approaches that give sophisticated solutions to a community’s existing problems. The main purpose represents strengthening social unity through activities such as volunteering, learning and entrepreneurship.
Creativity: It describes the ability and skill to form something new. It involves development of tangible (equipment) and intangible (ideas) objectives which aim to have as a result a useful product. Creativity is a new approach that comes to fill in gaps in the knowledge and find solutions for problems.
Cultural identity: The feeling that represents belonging to a group or society. It involves self-evaluation that makes each person categorise himself or herself in a group, based on religion, nationality, class, or any other social classification. Cultural identity involves individual’s perception of him/herself whereby as a result the person becomes part of the group that share the same practices and values.
Tourism Entrepreneurship: It defines any type of businesses that offer tourist products and services. This type of enterprise involves developing business activities such as accommodation, transport, shops, entertainment, and many others.