Purpose – This paper aims to display the role of hotel restaurants in gastronomic place branding. The authors view hotel restaurants as having a great potential in the promotion of local gastronomy. Design/methodology/approach – The research was done in several stages. First, the authors selected six destinations (Lapland, Catalonia, Saint Petersburg, Marseille, Parma and Munich) according to the classification of gastronomic brands based on the settlement type. Second, the authors studied conceptions of hotel restaurants located in these destinations to see how they reflect local gastronomic brands. For this purpose, restaurant menus, verbal descriptions of interiors and names of establishments were analyzed using elements of content analysis. Finally, the authors conducted several interviews with hotel managers in one of the destinations to distinguish the challenges of gastronomic branding within hotel restaurants. Findings – The results allowed defining the role of hotel restaurants in gastronomic branding depending on the following factors: hotel’s affiliation with a chain, hotel’s star rating and destination type. Practical implications – The authors argue that gastronomic branding raises attractiveness of hotels, its restaurants and destination on the whole. This research was presented to the Tourism Committee of St Petersburg, resulting in increased attention to gastronomic branding among the city authorities. Originality/value – The role of hotel restaurants in gastronomic branding has not been studied previously. However, hotel restaurants differ from other actors of gastronomic branding due to the necessity to comply with hotel’s conception, brand and standards.

This article focuses on a significant component of tourist destination attractiveness, namely, territorial gastronomic branding. Some destinations boast a specific gastronomic brand, while others do not have a clearly defined 'gastronomic face'. Moreover, some territories lack the 'food basis' or unique gastronomic resources, such as a brand product or local cuisine, for creating such a brand. The authors undertook an investigation of whether a territorial gastronomic brand can be formed when a region lacks a definite 'food basis'. What is the basis for creating a regional gastronomic brand (RGB)? Does the 'food basis' always form the nucleus of a gastronomic brand? Or within the framework of the experience economy, is a 'nonculinary', 'non-food' addition sufficient for creating an RGB? The authors argue that the basis for a gastronomic brand can be traced to the cultural and historic traditions of the region. The authors focus on possible ways of forming gastronomic brands in multicultural cosmopolitan cities where authentic gastronomic brands are blurred to a great extent. Specifically, the research focuses on St. Petersburg, which is a prototypical multicultural city lacking a pure 'food basis' for forming a territorial gastronomic brand.

Purpose -The paper aims to generate new information on the types of entrepreneurial activities at the re-enactment festivals and their importance for the re-enactors. Design/methodology/approach -The study consisted of two stages: a content analysis of information available through online open access and a qualitative survey of re-enactors and a qualitative survey of re-enactors was organised and spanned from November 2012 to February 2013. Findings -The paper concludes that a specific form of entrepreneurship in the Russian market characterised by creation of social capital, a high level of devotion to engagement and, at the same time, non-profit-related gains has been emerged. Research limitations/implications -The socio-cultural phenomenon of entrepreneurship within re-enactment festivals is investigated. The study may be further developed by identifying various cultural events that may be characterised by the existence of an internal festival market. Originality/value -This paper highlights social entrepreneurial activities in informal sector by the example of re-enactment festivals.

The aim of the study is to examine the various forms of interaction between cultural heritage and creative industries to support the development of various types of cultural clusters in St. Petersburg. The study was based on a model, which provides several types of partnership cultural heritage (CH) could have with the creative industries (CI): CH as a "decoration" for the CI, as "content", as a "brand", as the creator of the needs. Authors' classification of cultural clusters in St. Petersburg is described, including clusters of cultural heritage, ethnic cultural clusters, the mass-cultural (consumer-oriented) cultural clusters, art -incubators. One of the main findings is the low willingness of many public cultural institutions to have any form of interaction with the creative industries. The second group of findings concerned the ability to attract creative industries to provide services for residents of St. Petersburg in cooperation with public institutions of culture.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify ways to develop museum shop product, which will possess competitive advantage, and to recommend what should be done to develop such product so that it has a positive impact on the city brand of St. Petersburg. Design/methodology/approach In total, 76 museums have been studied through the observation method to describe their shops’ inventory in terms of percentages of each product. Mostly St. Petersburg museums were included in the analysis. The observation method enabled the researchers to analyse the inventory of the museum souvenir shops. The findings of the analysis enabled the researchers to reach conclusions about museums’ strategies of product development. Findings The research allowed to make the conclusion that although the museum shops in St.Petersburg demonstrate positive tendencies in the development of competitive stores’ products a lot of work is still to be done. Not all museums are characterised by availability of clear strategy for product development. They offer souvenirs (if any) which do not differ from those existing on the market according to topics and functions which are characteristic for them. Recommendations on how to make the product of museum shops more competitive were proposed. Practical implications Cities need new and fresh ways to create and promote their brands. Museums can contribute to this significantly with the help of souvenirs production. This research will provide insight into the process of how museums can do this by developing their shops’ inventory strategies. Recommendations to improve strategies for creation of competitive product were offered in the paper. Originality/value In today’s competitive conditions, museums are creating augmented products and create museum shops. Nevertheless, the role of museum shops in brand creation is underexplored. Museum shops have a high potential for creating high-quality products that may influence the museum and city brand in a positive way, as souvenirs and visual images of museum artifacts play an essential role in making an impression on tourists.