Marketing and Branding Initiatives for Local Food and Tourism Identity of Terengganu, Malaysia

Introduction

Combining food with tourism by creating an awareness of the local food in a specific region is a strategy to build a tourism experience and establish a destination brand. As described by Richards (2012), food routes and trails are becoming popular marketing initiative at tourist destinations to brand itself. Choosing the right marketing initiatives through relevant advertising and promotional materials including conventional (i.e. brochures, poster, and travel guides) and contemporary (i.e. television, radio, websites, and social medias) is important to communicate implicit and explicit ideas about local food (Dieck, Fountoulaki, & Jung, 2018; Horng & Tsai, 2012; Jalis, 2016; Okumus, Okumus, & McKercher, 2007). Such marketing efforts, however, require a comprehensive planning, particularly when involving various tourism stakeholders as part of the whole marketing and branding process (Jalis, 2016; Okumus & Cetin, 2018; Tsia & Wang, 2017). Further discussion between tourism stakeholders including local authorities and marketers on the sort of tourism product information is necessary before committing to final decisions, in the form of strategic marketing plans. Not only that, deeper understanding on local food integration into tourism marketing strategies could be clearly understood especially on its roles to brand a place/region and establish tourism identity.

Prior exploring on the symbiotic relationship between local food and tourism, it is crucial to have some ideas on the concept of local food and a place/region identity. Local food refers to meals or dishes that are locally produced based on availability of ingredients, geographical location, cooking methods, and cultural as well as religious differences of a particular tourist destination (Civitello, 2011; Higman, 2011; Jalis, 2016). Local food is believed to be capable of conveying deeply rooted meanings and specific concepts that reflect the special characteristics of a geographic area (Lin, Pearson & Cai, 2011). One example is provided by an article written by Hashimoto and Telfer (2006). They found that the most effective way to sell Canada’s culinary tourism was through distinct culture attributes. Defining national identity based on a singular culture has been contested by modern theorists because of the movement among today’s people and the migration of significant numbers of people (Hashimoto & Telfer, 2006). To sociologists, the term culture that has been used as a reference to social identity has become a political issue due to rivalry between tourist destinations (Burns & Novelli, 2006). This forces tourism authorities to adopt strategies that are more complex or based on consumer demands and trends (Henderson, 2016; Horng & Tsai, 2012). Nevertheless, both societal and national characteristics provide a significant contribution in tourist destination identities construction.

The most common way of highlighting a destination’s identity is to have a clear tourism theme such as cultural and heritage tourism (e.g., Scotland), natural and adventure tourism (e.g., New Zealand), sport tourism (e.g., Abu Dhabi, UAE) and food and wine tourism (e.g., Australia). A book edited by White and Frew (2011) focuses on how cultural tourism, events and celebrations contribute to tourist destination identity. The three themes identified within these activities are: i) identity and image – based on social, cultural and geographical background, ii) culture and community – based on specific strengths and interests, and iii) heritage and history – based on historical stories and sites of building the nation (White & Frew, 2011). In recent years, many tourist destinations have positioned themselves based on their particular characteristics as well as improving their image and identity by organizing campaigns, big events and festivals (Hsu, Killion, Brown, & Gross, 2011). Examples include the ‘Year of Gastronomy’ in Hungary and regional food festival such as the ‘Taste of Melbourne’ in Australia.