ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the need for, and efforts by, Destination marketing organizations to manage places’ reputations for food and gastronomy. It provides an overview of place reputation and place reputation management, giving particular attention to the trend toward the ‘soft’ factors of place, including a gastronomic scene. The chapter considers some of the challenges to place reputation management in the present online environment. It looks at two case studies–Houston, Texas, and Cleveland, Ohio–and the diverse approaches their respective convention and visitors’ bureaus use in online media to support the cities’ growing reputations for gastronomy. The chapter focuses on the relationship between gastronomic tourism and place reputation management. The development of interesting and high-quality products and experiences provide the basis on which a reputation for gastronomic tourism is based. Gastronomy is recognized as a creative tourism experience, but it also has the potential to reflect what the place is and what it means for the people who live there.
