INTEREST CATEGORY: SECTORS
POSTING TYPE: Revisits

Author: Saurabh Dixit

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CALL FOR PAPERS FOR THE SPECIAL ISSUE OF

TOURISM RECREATION RESEARCH

ON

GASTRONOMIC TOURISM EXPERIENCES AND EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

Guest Editors:

Saurabh Kumar Dixit, Department of Tourism and Hotel Management, North – Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India (saurabh5sk@yahoo.com)

Girish Prayag, Department Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand (girish.prayag@canterbury.ac.nz)

Overview of the special issue:

Gastronomy and tourism play a major part in the contemporary experience economy (Dixit, 2019). Gastronomic tourism is a rapidly evolving field within the wider tourism, hospitality, marketing, regional development, and education fields. Gastronomic tourism is indeed very experiential, given its sensorial aspects and particularly in relation to broader notions of taste (Kesimoglu, 2015). Three evolutionary phases of gastronomic tourism experiences have been documented (Richards, 2015). The first generation was based on the production of themed experiences for consumers. The second generation of gastronomic experiences was centered on co-creation, while in the third generation there is greater recognition of gastronomic experiences being situated in the development of communities and food (Richards, 2015; Pratt, Suntikul & Agyeiwaah, 2020).  This implies a greater Integration of gastronomic tourism into local systems, sustainability, and regional development. Yet, there is much confusion with respect to concepts such as food, culinary and gastronomic tourism.  As Hall (2020, p.285) suggests, “they are related but different”, with gastronomic and culinary tourism dealing more with high-end restaurants and haute-cuisine.  Gastronomy focuses on elements of food, favor, culture, history, and environment (Baldwin, 2018), while culinary examines the study of food preparation, execution, flavor development, and techniques. Where in both look at food and derived techniques, culinary is more technical while gastronomy tends to be more philosophical in nature (Baldwin, 2018). While this special issue is about gastronomic experiences and its implications for experiential marketing, we welcome studies that focus on culinary tourism experiences as well as those transcending the boundaries of gastronomic and culinary tourism experiences to also examine the broader scope of food tourism experiences. However, researchers must clearly position their study in relation to these three concepts.

Eating is a unique tourist activity that gratifies all the senses (Kivela & Crotts, 2006). The sensory appeal of local food has been topical in the tourism and hospitality literature (Kim & Eves, 2012). Gastronomic tourism has thus emerged as a significant component of consumers’ lived experiences, regardless of country of origin, shaping decision-making processes, dining choices, and holiday destinations (Dixit, 2020; Ellis, Park, Kim, & Yeoman, 2018; Henderson, 2009; Robinson, Getz, & Dolincar, 2018). The modern traveler considers significantly diverse experiential attainments while visiting any destination. Therefore, studies that examine gastronomic experiences related to local restaurants, street foods, cooking classes, local food markets, farm weekends, and food exhibitions or festivals (Dixit, 2019) are welcomed.  Existing studies have also highlighted the importance of special interest tourism in relation to gastronomic food and wine (Hall and Sharples, 2003; Kivela and Crotts, 2006) and emerging forms of tourism-related to other local products such as beer, whisky, and cheese (Hall, 2020). Therefore, studies examining these special interest groups are welcomed but these studies must clearly emphasize theoretical contributions and implications for tourism policy, destination management, and marketing.

Local gastronomy, in particular, sheds light on the host culture, heritage, and traditions at one end and develops the sense of pride amongst the community at the other end (Dixit, 2019). Thus, we encourage submissions that examine gastronomic experiences (e.g., design, development, and marketing) from either producer or consumer perspectives, or both, that focus on local gastronomy. From consumers’ perspectives, we are particularly interested in third-generation gastronomic experiences where the tourist is an active rather than a passive agent in the development and presentation of gastronomic and culinary experiences.  In particular, studies that focus on tourists actively participating in interactive foodiescape in communities and destinations are welcomed.

Given that local food has a diverse value, including local, ethnic, and national traditions, as well as history, customs, culture, and eating habits beyond gastronomic and dietary values (Choe & Kim, 2018; Hall et al., 2003), we also seek studies that emphasize the experiential value and the holistic nature of food experiences and their ability to bond people through food (Boswijk, Thijssen, & Peelen, 2007). Beyond the experiential aspects, gastronomic tourism has socio-cultural implications on society, place, and identity (Kesimoglu, 2015). In particular, the nexus of religious requirements and gastronomic tourism experiences is an area of significant omission in the literature (Hall & Prayag, 2019). We, therefore, seek studies that examine those broader notions of gastronomic tourism experiences in relation to religious requirements, community development, and place-making, including place identity, as well as how gastronomic tourism experiences fit with destination sustainability concerns.

Overall, this special issue aims to enrich and update the existing literature on experiential marketing domains of gastronomic tourism. The guest editors, therefore, encourage the contributors to forward both conceptual and empirical research reflecting innovative and current approaches to the scrutiny of the themes outlined below. We encourage contributions from various disciplines and using diverse methods as well as collaborative research undertaken by multi-disciplinary research teams. Submissions should explore these themes but are not limited to the following topics:

• The role of gastronomy and haute-cuisine in tourism experiences
• Experiential frameworks for understanding gastronomic, culinary and food tourism
• Sensorial aspects of gastronomic experiences and destination foodscape
• Gastronomic tourism experiences and heritage, including notions of place-making and identity
• Gastronomic tourism experiences and community development
• Gastronomic tourism experiences and religion
• Extraordinary and memorable gastronomic tourism experiences, including value creation
• Local gastronomy and sustainable tourism experiences
• Special interest gastronomic experiences (food, wine, whisky, cheese, beer etc.)
• Gastronomic experiences related to local restaurants, street foods, cooking classes, local food markets, farm weekends, and food exhibitions or festivals

Submission Instructions: Authors willing to contribute to this special issue can contact the guest editors regarding topics of interest or any questions / suggestions regarding the special issue.  An abstract up to 750 words should be e-mailed as a MS word attachment file by September 30, 2020 to both saurabh5sk@yahoo.com and girish.prayag@canterbury.ac.nz. The guest editors will provide initial feedback to contributors on submitted abstracts by October 15, 2020.

Full instructions for authors of Tourism Recreation Research can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=rtrr20

Important Dates:

• Abstract Submission: September 30, 2020
• Feedback on the abstract by the editors: October 15, 2020
• Full Paper Submission: January 17, 2021
• Initial Review Report: March 28, 2021
• Revisions: May 14, 2021
• Final Decision by Special Issue Editors: May 30, 2021
• Publication Date: End of June, 2021.

References:

Baldwin, W. (2018). Chef’s sabbatical: An analysis of chef’s gastronomic research through culinary tourism. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, 13, 65-72.

Boswijk, A., Thijssen, T., & Peelen, E. (2007). The Experience Economy: A New Perspective. London: Pearson

Choe, J. Y. J., & Kim, S. S. (2018). Effects of tourists’ local food consumption value on attitude, food destination image, and behavioral intention. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 71, 1-10.

Dixit, S. K. (2019). Gastronomic Tourism: A Theoretical Construct. In Dixit, S. K. (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Gastronomic Tourism (pp. 13-23.). London: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315147628

Dixit, S. K. (2020), Marketing Gastronomic Tourism Experiences. In Dixit, S. K. (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Tourism Experience Management and Marketing (pp. 322-335). London: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429203916

Ellis, A., Park, E., Kim, S., & Yeoman, I. (2018). What is food tourism? Tourism Management, 68, 250-263.

Hall, C. M. (2020). Improving the recipe for culinary and food tourism? The need for a new menu. Tourism Recreation Research, 45(2), 284-287.

Hall, C. M., & Prayag, G. (Eds.). (2019). The Routledge handbook of halal hospitality and Islamic tourism. London: Routledge.

Hall, C.M., Sharples, L., Mitchell, R., Macionis, N., & Cambourne, B. (2003). Food tourism around the world. London: Routledge.

Hall, C. M., Mitchell, R., and Sharples, L. (2003). Consuming places: The role of food, wine and tourism in regional development. In C. M. Hall, L. Sharples, R. Mitchell, N. Macionis, & B. Cambourne (Eds.), Food Tourism Around the World (pp. 25–59). Oxford, UK: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-7506-5503-3.50005-1

Henderson, J. C. (2009). Food tourism reviewed. British Food Journal, 111(4), 317-332.

Kesimoğlu, A. (2015). A reconceptualization of gastronomy as relational and reflexive. Hospitality & Society, 5(1), 71-91.

Kim, Y. G., & Eves, A. (2012). Construction and validation of a scale to measure tourist motivation to consume local food. Tourism management, 33(6), 1458-1467.

Kivela, J., and Crotts, J. C. (2006). Tourism and gastronomy: Gastronomy’s influence in how tourists experience a destination. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 30(3): 354–377. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348006286797

Pratt, S., Suntikul, W., & Agyeiwaah, E. (2020). Determining the attributes of gastronomic tourism experience: Applying impact‐range performance and asymmetry analyses. International Journal of Tourism Research. https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.2356

Richards, G. (2015). Evolving gastronomic experiences: From food to foodies to foodscapes. Journal of Gastronomy and Tourism, 1(1), 5-17.

Robinson, R.N.S., Getz, D., & Dolincar, S. (2018). Food tourism subsegments: A data‐driven analysis. International Journal of Tourism Research, 20, 367-377.