ABSTRACT
Travel has become a synonym of living memorable and enjoyable experiences. Co-creation centralizes tourists’ role in the creation of value that results from the interaction with other destination stakeholders and the physical environment. Within the wider destination experience, the growing interest tourists show regarding the food and wine experience is notorious, due to its distinctive, multisensory and engaging nature. However, conceptual and empirical studies on co-creation of experiences in food and wine contexts are still scarce. To address this gap, this conceptual study presents an integrative literature review of 118 articles focusing on co-creation in tourism experiences, aiming at understanding what conceptual and empirical studies have been developed in the field, and identifying the most representative dimensions of tourism co-creation, both in general tourism experience and in food and wine experiences, in particular. Based on study findings, a critical analysis is presented along with a novel framework and definition of co-creative tourism experiences, with particular relevance to food and wine tourism. Key dimensions of co-creation in food and wine experiences, namely interaction, engagement, participation and personalization, are identified as relevant for promoting involving and immersive experiences. Theoretical and managerial contributions to destination managers and local stakeholders are also discussed.
Acknowledgements
The authors express thanks for the financial support by the project TWINE – PTDC/GES-GCE/32259/2017 – POCI-01-0145-FEDER-032259, funded by FEDER, through COMPETE 2020 – Operational Programme Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) and by national funds (OPTDC/GES-GCE/32259/2017-E), through FCT/MCTES.
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This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
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Mariana Carvalho
Mariana Carvalho is a PhD Student in Tourism at the University of Aveiro. Her research focus is the relevance of co-creation in food experiences enhancing destinations’ competitiveness. She holds a degree in Tourism from the University of Coimbra and a Master's Degree in Tourism Management and Development from the University of Aveiro. Currently she works as an Invited Assistant Lecturer at Coimbra School of Education of the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra.
Elisabeth Kastenholz
Elisabeth Kastenholz is Associate Professor at the Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism at the University of Aveiro, where she teaches Tourism and Marketing-related subjects since 1994, also integrating the University's Research Unit Governance, Competitiveness and Pubic Policies (GOVCOPP). She holds a PhD in Tourism Studies, an MBA, a Licenciatura in ‘Tourism Management and Planning’ and a bachelor in ‘Public Administration – Specificity Foreign Affairs’ (Germany).
Maria João Carneiro
Maria João Carneiro is Assistant Professor at the University of Aveiro (Portugal) and researcher at the Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies Research Unit. She holds a PhD in Tourism and a Degree in Tourism Management and Planning, both from the University of Aveiro, and an MBA from the New University of Lisbon. Her research interests include consumer behaviour in tourism and competitiveness of tourism destinations. She published several book chapters and papers in international journals.