Food and tourism: an effective partnership? A UK-based review

Abstract

This paper focuses on the role of food tourism in delivering sustainability agendas by examining how the agriculture and tourism sectors have struggled to realise measurable successes because of constraints, conflicting ambitions and low levels of social capital. It focuses on the United Kingdom, which has tasked regional development agencies to adopt food tourism as a means to grow local economies, create jobs and improve natural resources and diversify. In 2009/10, 16 interviews and six workshops were conducted with stakeholders to gauge industry challenges and needs in implementing food tourism. Based on qualitative findings, a model was developed which maps five emergent themes (knowledge exchange, the supply chain, fear of change, regionalisation and marketing) alongside five sustainability principles (strong and just society, good governance, sustainable economy, working within environmental limits and using sound science responsibly). The paper argues that if food tourism is to deliver its purported sustainable benefits, the policy environment must cultivate significant social capital through the cooperation of different industries with varying needs, motivations and challenges through joint marketing schemes, more localised distribution channels and enhanced policy engagement. Scotland and Wales are more successful than England, but overall food and tourism are not yet in effective partnership.

食物和旅游：一种有效的合作关系？以英国为例的评论

该文章通过检验农业和旅游产业如何因为障碍，冲突的目标和低层次的社会资金而难以实现可测量的成就，来着重于食物旅游在传递可持续性日程上的职责。文章着重于英国的例子。英国的区域发展机构采用食物旅游作为手段来增长本地经济，创造工作机会，提升自然资源和多样化。在2009/2010年，研究与利益相关者进行了16个采访和6个讨论会来测量实施食物旅游的产业挑战和需求。根据定性化研究结果，一个有着五大新主题（知识交换，供应链，对改变的害怕，区域化和市场营销）和五大可持续性原则（强大的和公正的社会，良好的政策治理，可持续性经济，在环境底线内工作，和有责任地使用可靠的科学）的模型被发展出来。该文章争议，如果食物旅游是为了传递它所谓的可持续性优势，那么大政策环境就必须通过与有着不同需求，目标和挑战的产业之间的合作来培育重要的社会资金。而这些产业的合作是通过联合营销计划，更本地化的分销渠道，和更好的政策制订。苏格兰和威尔士比英格兰更成功，但是综合来说，食物和旅游还不是非常有效的合作关系。

Keywords:

• food tourism
• agriculture
• social capital
• policy
• United Kingdom

关键词:

• 食物旅游
• 农业
• 社会资金
• 政策
• 英国

Notes

1. The UK is a shorthand term for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The term Great Britain includes England, Scotland and Wales. Both Scotland and Wales have some and varying degrees of autonomy, as does Northern Ireland. For practical reasons connected to history, geography and governance, this paper concentrates on England, Scotland and Wales.