The Online Role of Culinary Tourism for the Sustainable Development of Tourist Destinations: An International Cross-Country Analysis

Culinary Tourism is based on the gastronomic elements of a region or area, which represent the distinctive traits that destinations use to achieve an inimitable and valuable competitive advantage (Scorrano et al., 2018; Iaia et al., 2016). This is possible because gastronomic heritage is connected with regional gastronomic culture, thus defning the key attributes of a destination’s identity, promoting its culinary products and culture worldwide and establishing global relationships (Scarpato, 2002). The gastronomic experience, in fact, is one of the most common activities practised by tourists in a destination (Şahin & Ünver, 2015), which makes it a vital and indissoluble part of the tourism ofering. Due to its importance, CT could represent an alternative for destinations that need to diversify their ofering, reframing the use of natural resources depleted by mass tourism, e.g., the seaside, or attractive destinations with limited natural and cultural resources (Liasidou, 2018). Thus, destinations could seize the opportunity to define a well-recognised gastronomic experience that is diffcult to replicate and able to attract and satisfy culinary tourists (Kivela & Crotts, 2006).