Local and regional food holds great potential to contribute to sustainable competitiveness
in a destination. An analysis of the literature and promotional material of South
African and key international destinations, however, indicate that the contribution of
food to sustainable tourism and the marketing of destinations has received very little
attention globally, as well as in South Africa. A framework and guidelines for developing
and implementing food tourism could enable destination marketers and entrepreneurs
to optimise the tourism potential of local and regional food. To this end a food
tourism destination-marketing framework was conceptualised, which was based on
the findings of a South African situation analysis and international trends and best
practices. The South African situation analysis entailed an empirical investigation
among regional and provincial destination marketing organisations to determine the
current status and future potential and food tourism initiatives as a key component of
destination marketing in South Africa. To support the food tourism destinationmarketing
framework, two key tools were developed, namely TOURPAT (a tourism
and culinary atlas linked to a geospatial database) and PAT (a product potential and
attractiveness tool). The framework and tools were tested in a South African destination
and provided the stakeholders with mechanisms to develop and implement food
tourism.
This paper outlines the key components and an evaluation of the framework
and tools that have been developed. Guidelines and recommendations for the development,
packaging and marketing of local and regional foods are postulated. Proposals
for future research are also outlined
Towards a Framework for Food Tourism as an Element of Destination Marketing