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Figure 3. Gastronomic activities for Europeans
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Cactus Tourism Journal Vol. 9, Issue 1/2014, Pages 12-21, ISSN 2247-3297
Source: made by authors
Marketing and Promoting
In the gastronomic tourism 68% of the organizations consulted carry out marketing activities
or promotion based on.
Firstly, we have found in a research study (WTO, 2012) that most of the companies used the
following promotional instruments: organizing events (91%), producing brochures and advertising
(82%) and dedicated websites on gastronomic tourism (78 %) (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Instruments use for promoting gastronomic tourism
Source: adapted from (WTO, 2012)
Secondly, we have a lower budget, which contains promotional tools such as tourism guides
(61%), blogs (43%), and familiarization trips for journalists and tour operators (13%).
And lastly, only 4% of the organizations surveyed said that they used social networks to
promote the gastronomic tourism.
Conclusion
According to (Dozier, 2012), it is obvious that gastronomy plays an indispensable role in the
promotion of tourism. In the development of gastronomic tourism, traditional strategies can offer the
possibility to use the strategic tools to articulate the quality, variety and uniqueness of local products
and gastronomy of a territory. Consequently, the creation of plans to form development guidelines and
create gastronomic tourism products is perceived as a priority for tourist destinations
.
Fundamentally, in the field of marketing and promotion the importance presented by
gastronomy is based on a strategy to build the image and the brand of the destinations. Key factors in
this matter are: development of high-quality and credible promotional tools-such as gastronomic
guides-the organization of events, the media and use of the Internet and social networks.
In conclusion, both in the conceptualization as well as in the development of product offerings
and promotion, members of the company make arrangements on the importance of establishing
cooperation instruments between all actors in the value chain of gastronomic tourism at the local
level (producers, fisherman, markets, fish markets, restaurants, hotels, tour operators, public
administrations etc.).