Food tourism: Practices and strategies
Introducing an ongoing research project
1. Tempting prospects, difficult to pursue
2. Food tourism practices: The devil in everyday details
3. Towards a typology of food tourism strategies
4. Northern European case studies
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
Laura James – laura.james@humangeo.su.se
TEMPTING PROSPECTS,
DIFFICULT TO PURSUE
Tempting prospects of economic development synergy
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

food experience add to attraction of destination
boost local food production
from tourist sustenance to food tourism
Strategic challenges in developing food tourism
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
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local food experiences must be produced
local food made accessible to visitors
attractions of local food communicated to visitors
local food experiences demanded by visitors
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
Laura James – laura.james@humangeo.su.se
FOOD TOURISM PRACTICES
The devil in everyday details
Inspiration from literature on organisational learning
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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‘ (Reckwitz 2002)
Three key aspects of practice as 'sensitising questions' (Nicolini 2011)
 sayings and doings
 practical concerns
 timing and tempo
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
Laura James – laura.james@humangeo.su.se
FOOD TOURISM PRACTICES
The devil in everyday details
Case: Taste for Jammerbugten
 activity: recipes with local stories in restaurants
 outcome: tourists exposed to local cooking
 change: networking, story-telling, branding
FT
PRACTICES
Saying/Doing
Practical concerns
Timing/Tempo
Producing
Specialist niche
Expansion v quality
Seasonality as assett
Catering
Add local story-telling
Maintain kitchen
autonomy
Supplier reliability
Consuming
Quality niche
Promoting
Branding > promotion
Retailing
Less seasonal?
Network stability
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
Laura James – laura.james@humangeo.su.se
All-year tourism
Food tourism typologies
ACTORS, RESOURCES, GOVERNANCE?
Consumption
 more/less important (ex: Hall et al. 2003, Boyne et al. 2003, ….. (?))
Production
 different food qualities in focus (ex: Richards 2002, Long 2004, …. (?))
 Supply chain structures (ex: Hall et al. 2003, …. (?))
Resources
 Different types of value added (Hjalager 2002):
 Facilities, activities, events, organisations (ex: Ignatov & Smith 2008,
Governance
Smith
& Xiao 2008,
Everett &
Slocum 2013)
Volume,
quality,
services,
knowledge
 Cross-sectoral integration (Bessiere 2013):

Absent (linked with industrial gastro-tourism)

Emerging (linked with artisanal gastro-tourism)

Established (linked with entrepreneurial gastro-tourism)
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
Laura James – laura.james@humangeo.su.se
Reconceptualising
FOOD TOURISM STRATEGIES
Conceptualising regional development strategies (Halkier 2006)

Strategies as a combination of aims, targets and instruments
 Qualitative versus quantative change
 Targets by sector/size/market
 (Instruments as change-oriented use of public resources)
Food tourism
strategies
Type of
change
aims
Primary target of change
Food
Tourism
Qualitative
Innovation
Experience
Quantitative
Localise
consumption
Image
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
Laura James – laura.james@humangeo.su.se
NORTH EUROPEAN CASE STUDIES
in coastal destinations
Regional/local initiatives
 local and/or quality food
 desirable (well-off) visitors
Key actor interviews
 food producers
 food retailers
 local policy makers
 tourism / DMOs
 food / RDA networks
(local trade council)
 Suffolk, UK
 West Jutland, Denmark
 Skåne, Sweden
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
Laura James – laura.james@humangeo.su.se