Abstract
PurposeThe paper focusses on festivals taking place in coastal regions whose central element is seafood. The purpose is to analyse the role of seafood festivals as potential tourist attractions for local development. The decision to focus on coastal areas is based on a perceived knowledge gap regarding the interactions between different sectors of the sea economy.Design/methodology/approachQualitative exploratory case studies of seafood festivals in Italy and Sweden have been performed using an analytical model. The participatory observation methodology contributed to a better understanding of the phenomenon.FindingsThe analysis shows the close relationship between seafood and tourism, and although it takes variable forms, food is a fundamental lever for maritime and coastal tourism and local development. Findings suggest that local food events can help strengthening gastronomic identities, despite there is a different articulation between tradition and marketing in the two countries.Research limitations/implicationsSince this paper represents an exploratory study of five seafood festivals, research needs to be extended and replicated before any findings can be generalized. However, the model is flexible enough to be tested in different food events.Practical implicationsFood events represent a key instrument for the integration of territorial policies in which tourism and food products might be used as strategic instruments for the development of coastal areas.Originality/valueThis paper is a first attempt to analyse and compare seafood events, contributing to filling the gap in event literature referring to coastal areas. The model introduced can be used to determine the articulation of tradition-marketing in different food events.
Highlights
Food is often considered a driver of tourism development in territories whose attractiveness is in crisis or as an alternative element for destinations that cannot benefit from natural or historical resources (Kivela and Crotts, 2006)
While the seafood festivals in the Marche region lasted several days in the main coastal cities (Ancona is the capital of Marche region, and San Benedetto del Tronto is the fifth most populated city in the region), the V€astra G€otaland events are mostly held in small fishing villages and last only half a day
The research reveals the same results for the Mussel and Herring Festivals, where there was no opportunity to discover new ways of savouring the seafood, and the main seafood characterizing each event was an industrial food product which was produced by the companies organizing and sponsoring the event (Figure 3)
Summary
Food is often considered a driver of tourism development in territories whose attractiveness is in crisis or as an alternative element for destinations that cannot benefit from natural or historical resources (Kivela and Crotts, 2006). 10) describes food tourism as “visitation to primary and secondary food producers, food festivals, restaurants and specific locations for which food tasting and/or experiencing the attributes of specialist food production region are the primary motivating factor for travel”. Food festivals could represent essential elements for food tourism development (Getz, 2019) and to increase the value of the tourist experience (Green and Dougherty, 2008; Sims, 2009). The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
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