Promoting synergies between
tourism and food
in Denmark and England
Henrik Halkier (halkier@cgs.aau.dk)
Laura James (laura.james@humangeo.su.se)
Promoting synergies between
tourism and food
in Denmark and England
Henrik Halkier (halkier@cgs.aau.dk)
Laura James (laura.james@humangeo.su.se)
1. Introduction: food and tourism synergies
2. Practice perspectives
3. Institutions and policies
4. Reflections
Objectives
• To compare the actors and institutions
involved in the food and tourism sectors in
North Jutland, Suffolk and Jämtland,
exploring:
– the adaptation and recombination of existing food
and tourism practices (production, processing,
catering, experience creation, promoting…)
– the institutions and policies shaping interactions
between the food and tourism sectors (DMOs,
local government, regional development agencies,
LAGs…)
Food and Tourism
FEEDING TOURISTS
FOOD TOURISM
Purpose
Sustenance
Experience
Style
Generic
Place specific
Sourcing
National
Localized
Production
Standardized
Specialized
“travel informed by the desire to experience
a particular type of food or the produce of a
specific region” (Hall & Sharples, 2003: 10)
Tourists and food
Tempting development prospects…
• Food increases attraction/brand of destination
(Richards 2002, Presenza & Del Chiappa 2013)
• Extending the season (Hall et al. 2003)
• Boost local food production, rural diversification
(Hjalager 2002, Everett & Slocum 2013)
• Cultural sustainability, heritage and regional
identity (Long 2004, Sims 2009, Telfer &
Hashimoto 2013)
• Environmental sustainability (Hall & Gössling
2013)
Two Perspectives
• Practices
–
–
–
–
–
Producing food
Retailing
Catering and hospitality,
Creating experiences
(Promoting tourism)
• How are existing practices
adapted, connected,
transformed? Are new
practices being created?
• Institutions & Policies
– Rural development (EU
LAGs)
– Destination development
(DMOs)
– Economic development
(RDAs, Local
Authorities/municipalities)
• How do these:
– shape existing practices &
the links between them
– Support (or hinder) the
development adaptation,
recombination,
transformation, etc…
Case Study Destinations
North Jutland (DK), Suffolk (UK)
•Coastal destinations with rural hinterlands
– North Jutland – self-catering holiday homes, Germans, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes
– Suffolk – Summer/weekends, cottages and 2nd homes, London and South East
•Food tourism ambitions, no ‘magnificent culinary heritage’
– Suffolk – wheat/barley, poultry, pork, vegetables
– North Jutland – grain, milk, pork, seafood
•Interviews with producers, retailers, restaurants, policymakers
2. Practice
• Reckwitz (2002: 249): Practice as '...a routinized type of
behaviour which consists of several elements,
interconnected to one another: forms of bodily activities,
forms of mental activities, ‘things’ and their use, a
background knowledge in the form of understanding,
know-how, states of emotion and motivational knowledge'.
• Nicolini’s (2012) sensitizing questions/dimensions of
practice
– Key and marginal actors, sayings and doings, practical concerns,
temporal organization
• A more fine-grained, process-oriented approach
– Not starting with firms, institutions, networks, policies…
– What do people do ‘on the ground’
Food/tourism practices
in North Jutland
• Key practices
– Producing
– Retailing
– Catering
– Promoting
• Two initiatives aiming to promote crosssectoral synergies
– New signature dishes
– Establish local food market
Case: Jammerbugt Signature dish
• Adapting existing practices
• fixed items on menus
• story telling
• linking in new ways
• use of local suppliers?
• new practice
• make recipe public
• joint branding
• DMO developing networks
Case: Hals local food market
• adapting existing practice
• adding food to existing
summer Saturday markets
• producers travelling further to
participate
• linking in new ways
• local business development
and tourism promotion
connected through
development of summer food
market
• new practice
• DMO developing local product
by initiating event
Key Findings
• Support for marginalised ‘quality’ food
production practices, but small scale
• Focus on adapting visible practices (menus,
markets) & new temporality (outside main
season) rather than localising food chain
• Some practices ‘too difficult’ to change/link
together: buying practices of supermarkets
and restaurants
– Differences and dependencies between practices
– What is at stake when practices must be changed or new
ones adopted?
– Brokers and boundary objects
3. Institutions and Policy
• Conceptualising economic/tourism
development strategies
– Contextual drivers (destination branding,
boost local food production, food scares)
– Available resources (tourism/food,
public/private)
– Change strategies (aims, targets)
Primary policy target
Food tourism
change strategies
Main level of
intervention
Firm-level
Food
Tourism
Innovating
Developing experience
Destination Localising consumption
Promoting image
Strategising food tourism
North Jutland (DK)
Suffolk (UK)
• Seasonal coastal destination
Tourism • Mainly self-catering families
resources • Many ‘grill bars’, few high-end
restaurants
• Seasonal coastal destination
• Mainly self-catering couples
• Many gastro-pubs, few high-end
restaurants
Culinary • No signature dishes
resources • Emerging local quality produce
• No signature dishes
• Expanding local quality produce
Private
sector
resources
• Some small-scale producers
• Some small-scale fishing
• Fragmented tourism sector
• EU LEADER rural programme
Public
• Established, well-resourced
sector
DMOs
resources
•
•
•
•
•
Many small-scale producers
Some small-scale fishing
Some larger ‘quality’ producers
Fragmented tourism sector
Commercial distribution to/via
supermarkets etc.
• EU LEADER rural programme
• Limited support for private-sector
led DMOs
Strategising food tourism
North Jutland (DK)
Policy
drivers
Initiatives
• Extension of tourism season
• Rural development
• ‘New Nordic’ cuisine
Suffolk (UK)
• Extension of tourism season
• Rural development
• Food scares - provenance
• Destination branding with food • Destination branding with food
• Support for food events
• Support for food events
• (LEADER) food network to
• LEADER diversification projects
link/profile small producers
(and restaurants)
• Signature dishes with local
ingredients/story-telling
• ‘New Nordic’ is urban
• No joint distribution
Challenges • Limited growth of small-scale
quality production
• Fragmented tourism policy
landscape
• Limited financial resources for
promotion
Key Findings
Policies focus on
•
•
•
Changes visible to visitors: branding, events, menus, (diversification)
New temporality (outside main season)
NOT localising food chain
Policy differences reflect
•
•
•
•
Perceived/experienced intensity of demand
Degree of availability of local food (producers, retailers)
Alternatives to diversification for small farmers (wage labour)
(National) preferences for particular policy instruments (networks vs grants)
Long-term strategic weaknesses
•
•
•
Limited funding for promotion/DMOs (UK)
Limited addressing of production/distribution density (DK)
Weak combination of branding AND development in sector-based governance (DK/UK)
4. Reflections and perspectives
• Defining and delimiting practices
– Zooming in and out?
• Relationship between practices and
strategies
– Impacts: continuity and change?
• Comparing and contrasting
– Different cross-sectoral coordination strategies
(markets, networks, branding?)