Creative food clusters and rural development through place branding: Culinary tourism initiatives in Stratford and Muskoka, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

This paper analyzes the place branding processes of two not-for-profit organizations that are engaged in promoting rural development based on the formation of food clusters through creative economy perspectives. Particular attention is given to exploring the nature of stakeholder collaboration and communication in relation to the contrasting organizational approaches of the organizations, Savour Stratford and Savour Muskoka in Ontario, Canada. The comparative case study, which was based primarily on interviews with key informants as well as the organizations' publications and web presence, illustrates how the differing processes of two emergent food clusters contribute to the successes and challenges of creative rural development.