Food festivals as builders of the image of a tourist destination

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper analyses how the image of a tourist destination is built through food festivals and the role played by the stakeholders in the image construction process. The study is based on a food festival in the municipality of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat close to Barcelona. The conceptual framework is based on tourist destination image construction, focusing on the role of local agents and particularly their use of social media. Content analysis of the induced image provided by local agents and the image perceived by tourists was conducted on social media platforms Facebook and Tripadvisor. The results suggest that local associations promoting and organizing food festivals can influence destination image by enhancing local identity and culture and reshaping the mental construct of the urban landscape based on food. Affective image attributes based on emotions are particularly important in this process. From a practical point of view, the study highlights a gap between induced image by local agents and perceived image by tourists for the case of food festivals. Moreover, it challenges local food agents to understand how to strengthen their message and build narratives around gastronomy as a relevant attribute for tourists that may influence destination image.