Gastronomy and Tourism: Socioeconomic and Territorial Implications in Santiago de Compostela-Galiza (NW Spain)

Emilio V. Carral, Marisa del Río and Zósimo López
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Emilio V. Carral: Functional Biology Department, Ecology Section, University of Santiago de Compostela, 27002 Lugo, Spain
Marisa del Río: Business Organization and Marketing Department, Marketing and Market Research Area, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Zósimo López: School of Education, International University of La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-25

Abstract: It is a worldwide well-known fact that gastronomic tourism does not always contribute to the cultural, social, economic, and territorial development of the host community. Therefore, its study requires a multidisciplinary and holistic approach to explore and interpret this phenomenon. From this perspective, the paper analyses the consumption of food products by tourists in Santiago de Compostela in Spain (2013–2014). Personal interviews (2081) with visitors and food industry establishment representatives were done. Compared with the normal food consumption of the Galician population, the food production capacity established by the corresponding Santiago foodshed calculation, and with the gastronomy official advertising (tourism web pages analysed by multimodal analysis), the gastronomic tourist experience is standardized and poor, limited to practically two products: rice with lobster, and octopus. This standardization supposes a high reduction in the diversity of the product that can be offered and produced in terms of proximity, and its territorial differentiation, comparing to the usual consumption of the Galician population, to the potential agricultural production by associated foodshed, and to the gastronomic advertising through official web pages. Thus, in this case, gastronomic tourism is not contributing to the social, economic, and territorial development of the host community or, ultimately, to the sustainability of tourism.

Keywords: gastronomy; tourism; food demand; restaurant offering; normal food consumption; official gastronomic advertisement; foodshed implication; Santiago de Compostela; Galiza (Spain) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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