ABSTRACT
This chapter considers some of the main features of current definitions of gastronomic tourism. All-encompassing definitions of gastronomic tourism are predicated on the notion that local, regional and national foods possess the potential to attract tourists to particular geographical areas. Gastronomic tourism policy initiatives on the present scale are a more recent phenomenon but draw from, and contribute to, the perceived fashionableness of dining out. The chapter suggests that the future development of the field would benefit from a wider understanding and application of concepts and theories drawn from research in the social sciences. Analyses of meal structure conducted from a structuralist sociological and sociological anthropological perspective alert to the underlying commonalities of food use and consumption. ‘Inventing tradition’ as part of policy initiatives to promote food/gastronomic tourism is not easily reconciled with either the impact on the cultural or eco-systems of the communities concerned, or in terms of replacing ‘authentic’ tourism experiences with self-defeating simulacra.
