Local Food in Tourism Destination Development: The Supply-Side Perspectives

ABSTRACT

Although the importance of the role of local food in destination marketing and development has begun to form an academic debate in the last decade, little effort has been invested to empirically underpin the concept of local food. Thus, in addressing the research gap, this study explores the perceptions and views on local food among supply-side representatives in Yorkshire, England. The findings suggest multiple understandings and discursive constructions of what constitutes “local food” among supply-side representatives. These are broadly presented as three dimensions: geographic; cultural; and socio-economic. Practical implications are offered to producers, service providers, and management, and future research avenues are suggested.

KEYWORDS:

• Local food
• tourism development
• food tourism
• destination marketing organisations
• Yorkshire
• England

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 “terroir” (an untranslatable French word that connotes the local spaces and soils). Terroir can be simply defined in environmental terms, however, the origins and significance of the phrase may be located within much wider philosophical, historical, social and cultural debates that define a particular destination (Tresidder, 2015).