8th International Thematic Monograph – Modern Management Tools and Economy of Tourism Sector in Present Era

Promoting Gastronomy Tourism in Croatia: Comparing Food and Wine Experiences

Matea Hanžek –   Zagreb School of Economics and Management (ZSEM), Vukasovićeva ulica 1, Zagreb, Croatia
Gordi Sušić –   Zagreb School of Economics and Management (ZSEM), Vukasovićeva ulica 1, Zagreb, Croatia
​​
​​DOI:   https://doi.org/10.31410/tmt.2023-2024.181​   

Abstract:  At a time when tourism destinations are looking at prospects to expand their offering, it is of significant importance to echo on opportuni­ties these offer for gastronomy tourism development. This paper provides an overview of gastronomy and tourism as an attraction for tourism, beforehand moving on to the case of Croatia, whose geographical position in the South­east of Europe made it one of the ideal locations for gastronomy tourism de­velopments. In attempting to at least partially answer the question of wheth­er Croatia is portrayed and perceived as a destination with a rich gastrono­my tourism offering, this research relies on content and semiotic analysis of the official Croatian National Tourist Board website in order to shed light on the modes in which representations of gastronomy tourism are included in the cur­rent tourism campaign. The research concludes with reflections on the overall importance of gastronomy tourism for the development of Croatia as an allur­ing gastronomy destination and highlights the role meaningful inclusions of representations of gastronomy tourism can play in contributing to strategical­ly desirable shifts in the country’s overall destination image.​

Keywords:   Gastronomy tourism; Wine tourism; Destination image; Croatia; Food; Wine; Destination branding

REFERENCES

 
 Bessière, J. (1998). Local development and heritage: traditional food and cuisine as tourist at­tractions in rural areas. Sociologia Ruralis, 38(1), 21–34.
CNTB. (n.d.). https://croatia.hr/en-gb
CNTB. (2023). Croatia full of life. Official Website.
Daries-Ramon, N., Cristobal-Fransi, E., & Mariné-Roig, E. (2019). Deployment of restaurants websites’ marketing features: The case of Spanish Michelin-starred restaurants. Interna­tional Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 20(3), 249-280.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2011). The Sage handbook of qualitative research. sage.
Hanžek, M., & Sušić, G. (2019). Croatian wine tourism from the winery perspective: the case of the Grand Cro. 4th International Thematic Monograph: Modern Management Tools and Economy of Tourism Sector in Present Era, 669-684. https://doi.org/10.31410/tmt.2019.669
Hanžek, M., & Sušić, G. (2020). Gastronomy tourism and destination branding: the study of Michelin-starred restaurants in Croatia. 5th International Thematic Monograph: Modern Management Tools and Economy of Tourism Sector in Present Era, 211–225. https://doi. org/10.31410/tmt.2020.211
Hanžek, M., & Sušić, G. (2023). Wine Tourism and Winescape Experiences in Croatia: Un­derstanding Motivations of Generation Z Wine Tourists. International Thematic Mono­graph: Modern Management Tools and Economy of Tourism Sector in Present Era, 273- 286. https://doi.org/10.31410/tmt.2022-2023.27
Kivela, J., & Crotts, J. C. (2006). Tourism and Gastronomy: Gastronomy’s Influence on How Tourists Experience a Destination. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 30(3), 354- 377. https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348006286797
Lin, M.-P., Marine-Roig, E., & Llonch-Molina, N. (2021). Gastronomy as a Sign of the Identi­ty and Cultural Heritage of Tourist Destinations: A Bibliometric Analysis 2001-2020. Sus­tainability, 13(22), 12531. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212531
Long, L. M. (2004). Culinary tourism. University Press of Kentucky.
Marušić, Z., Čorak, S., Ivandić, N., Beroš, I., & Ambrušec, M. (2020). Stavovi i Potrošnja Turis­ta u Hrvatskoj. TOMAS. Hrvatska 2019. Institut za turizam, Zagreb.
Nilsson, J.-H. (2016). Value creation in sustainable food networks: The role of tourism. In Food Tourism and Regional Development (pp. 61–75). Routledge.
Oswald, L. R. (2015). Creating value: the theory and practice of marketing semiotics research. Oxford University Press.
Ramli, A., Zahari, M. M., Ishak, N., & Sharif, M. M. (2013). Food heritage and nation food identity formation. Hospitality and Tourism: Synergizing Creativity and Innovation in Re­search, 407, 162–168.
Richards, G. (2012). An overview of food and tourism trends and policies. OECD Studies on Tourism, 13-46. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264171923-3-en
Rinaldi, C. (2017). Food and Gastronomy for Sustainable Place Development: A Multidiscipli­nary Analysis of Different Theoretical Approaches. Sustainability, 9(10), 1748. https://doi. org/10.3390/su9101748
UNWTO. (n.d.). Gastronomy and wine tourism. https://www.unwto.org/gastronomy-wine-tourism.
UNWTO. (2019). Guidelines for the Development of Gastronomy Tourism.
Van der Spiegel, M., Van der Fels-Klerx, H. J., Sterrenburg, P., Van Ruth, S. M., Scholtens-To­ma, I. M. J., & Kok, E. J. (2012). Halal assurance in food supply chains: Verification of ha­lal certificates using audits and laboratory analysis. Trends in Food Science & Technolo­gy, 27(2), 109-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2012.04.005