GASTRONOMIC DIVERSITY AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO CULTURAL IDENTITY

• Published in: SEECI 2000 2017-11 (44), p.1-13
• Main Authors: Oñate, Francisco Torres, Fierro, Josué Romero, Viteri, Maria Fernanda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cultural differences; Cultural heritage; Cultural identity; Culture; Food; Intercultural communication; Tourism
• ISSN: 1575-9628; 1576-3420
• DOI: 10.15198/seeci.2017.44.01-13

According to (Falcón, 2014), gastronomy allows the tourist development of the territory, either as a basic or as complementary resource, by expanding the possibilities of commercialization and extending it to other economic sectors. 1.3.Gastronomic tourism Gastronomic tourism can be understood as the visits to primary and secondary producers of food, gastronomic festivals, restaurants and specific places where the tasting of dishes and / or experimentation of the attributes of a region specialized in food production is the main reason for the trip, according to (Schlüter and Thiel, 2008) quoted in (Vázquez De La Torre, Morales Fernández, & Pérez Naranjo, 2012) Gastronomic tourism attracted the attention of scholars from different parts of the world after the World Gastronomic Tourism Congress held by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) in Cyprus in 2000. According to (Hjalager and Richards, 2002) cited in (Fernández Sánchez, Rodriguez Cotilla, Pozo Rodríguez, & Espinosa Manfugás, 2016), gastronomic tourists look for native and exotic foods, examples of these are the animal and plant products used by the native inhabitants of the tourist destinations, to create a different atmosphere that unites the need of the trip with unforgettable experiences through the connection between the tourist and the local culture, the environment and the food. According to (Gândara et al, 2008: 181) cited in (Mascarenhas Tramontin & Gândara Gonçalves, 2010) Gastronomic tourism is understood as an integral part of cultural tourism, considering that its point of action occurs in the interaction with the natural space in what it does to the production of goods - and in social interaction - in what makes the provision of services and the preservation of gastronomic heritage. According to (Mascarenhas, 2005) quoted in (Mascarenhas Tramontin & Gândara Gonçalves, 2010), gastronomic tourism is also capable of producing positive effects among which we can mention the following: it provides greater attractiveness for tourists and visitors, it complements the local tourist offer, attract new investments to the locality where it is developed, contribute to increased generation of jobs and tax collection, disseminate the local culture, increase the circulation of technical knowledge and contribute to the formation of a positive image for the locality and the region, rescuing or preserving the local culture through tourist activities; likewise, (Schlüter, 2003, p. 29) quoted in (Mascarenha