Mussels, Tourism and Community Development: A Case Study of Place Branding Through Food Festivals in Rural North Jutland, Denmark

Rural areas are facing prospects of marginalization and peripherality in an age of globa-

lization where the attention of governments and media focuses increasingly on the (lack

of) competitiveness of urban and metropolitan regions in Europe (European Commission,

2008). Many rural areas have, therefore, searched for ways to improve their position vis-a`-

vis other localities by mobilizing local resources and employing policy tools that are

believed to foster indigenous social and economic development (Pike et al., 2006;

Kneafsey, 2007).