ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes that the gastronomic trail is a marketing tool that establishes connections between multiple actors via a gastronomic theme and within the gastronomic ‘terroir’. It argues that the interrelationships amongst these elements call for a service ecosystem approach to understand the value of such trails for all the involved actors. Gastronomic trails are a growing phenomenon in the context of gastronomic tourism. Gastronomic trails provide guidance for exploring foodscapes or culinary terroirs, and are therefore considered effective means for enhancing tourist experiences. Food producers and marketers can align themselves geographically as well as economically and form regional networks by producing a trail. The service ecosystems perspective posits all actors as resource-integrators who are guided by the institutional understandings of their context. The institutional logic on the gastronomic trail includes the teleo-affective structures that are introduced by the gastronomic trail settings as well as the social and cultural meanings and values that guide the actors.
