Cultural Politics in Culinary Tourism With Ethnic Foods

Abstract

It is a highly popular and profitable industry in both international and domestic tourism segments and has a significant impact on food-related businesses. The identification, selection, evaluation, and interpretation of the cuisines and dishes included in such tourism are issues of power, that is, cultural politics. Who gets to make those selections? Whose recipe is used to represent a culture? Whose definition of the cuisine is presented? Who is considered the authority, by whom, and how did they come to be in that position? Cultural politics become even more complicated when culinary tourism features ethnic foods, that is, cuisines, dishes, ingredients, belonging to a heritage considered outside the foodways of the mainstream culture. Ethnic foods are defined partly by how they differ from the foods of the dominant culture, and their place within that culture reflects a history of being "other." Culinary tourism focuses attention on the food's otherness, making that otherness one of its central attractions. It offers new tastes and an entry into strange new cuisines through those tastes. In the US, food businesses have historically offered one of the most accessible contexts for employ-LUCY M. LONG 1

The awareness and authenticity of gastronomic tourism in Ilocos Region

“…Tourists can immerse themselves in the aspect of otherness of a culture in both sensory and intellectual ways by eating at a destination. Aside from having an exotic and exceptional touristic experience, visitors can discover the local culture of a destination by tasting exotic food or having an unusual gastronomic experience (Long et al, 2018). Moreover, the items "gastronomic tourism provides opportunity for residents to interact with tourists" with the mean rating of 3.44 and "gastronomic tourism improves the social and communication skills of the residents" shows a least development as to the communication skills of Ilocanos.…”

Digital Marketing in Culinary Tourism : A Case of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia

“…Culinary tourism is the focus of food as an attraction for exploration and a destination for tourism. Although food has always been a part of hospitality services for tourists, it was not emphasized by the tourism industry until the late 1990s [29]. Culinary tourism can also generally refer to travel in which the goal is exploring and enjoying local delicacies and gaining memorable culinary experiences [9].…”

“…As a result, the forms of advertising and marketing through new media depart in significant ways from the more familiar commercial advertising and promotion [29] seeks to provide as much visibility as possible online to maximize all opportunities for success. Mobile users are growing day by day and this is the most effective marketing method [30].…”

What makes inauthenticity dangerous

“…Smith (2009) argues that it is common knowledge among the so-called 'post tourists' that the tourist experience is largely commodifi ed, and the search for authenticity is usually futile. Tourism causes commodifi cation, which turns toured objects and activities into commodities to be transacted as part of commercial operations (Long, 2018). Th ere is an argument that inauthenticity often emerges from the commodifi cation processes, a phenomenon with alienating and exact exchange value (Halewood & Hanna, 2001).…”