Gastronomy for Tourism Development

Potential of the Western Balkans

Almir Peštek, Marko Kukanja, Sanda Renko, Almir Peštek, Marko Kukanja, Sanda Renko

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781789737561
• eBook ISBN: 9781789737578
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Sviluppo di business
• Index: Business

The Western Balkans and associated countries are striving to achieve and foster their economic growth, social well-being, and sustainable development. For all three of these areas, the tourism sector is a major source of income, change, and innovation, and the common gastronomic heritage of the Western Balkans presents a unique opportunity to develop tourism products that go far beyond different national identities. Today, several dishes, preparation methods, and service procedures are recognised as the Gastronomy of the Balkans, presenting a fascinating "melange" of West-European, Mediterranean, and oriental culinary traditions with a special local (the Balkan) touch. Taking into consideration how the Western Balkan countries are following the most tourist developed countries of Central Europe, which are nowadays keen to develop authentic and recognisable gastronomic tourism products, this exciting new book redresses the growing need for research that expands the current knowledge base regarding the tourism and gastronomic potentials for the region. A theoretical and practical guide for the gastronomic future of the Western Balkans, Gastronomy for Tourism Development: Potential of the Western Balkans shows the drivers, potentials, and barriers affecting the region in its effort to become a prominent European food destination in the 21st century.

Chapter 1

Gastronomy and Regional Identity: Balkan versus National Cuisine

Ana Jovičić Vuković and Aleksandra Terzić

Abstract

Being the basic need of humans, but also an attractive element of the tourist offer, gastronomy is related to the attractiveness of a destination, and Balkan gastronomy is considered to be one of the most positive aspects of the tourist image of the region. This study aims to investigate the locals' perception of gastronomic specificity of ‘Balkan food’ and national (local) food as well. Furthermore, the study investigated how ‘Balkan food’ is perceived in terms of its tourist potential, uniqueness, quality, nutrition and its general role in the creation of a joint ‘Balkan’ tourist brand. The methodology included a historical approach and a survey which involved110 respondents. Out of 21 traditional dishes identified in the official tourist promotional activities of selected countries and a review of the relevant literature, the following are identified as regional ‘Balkan’ dishes: ‘pečenje’, ‘musaka’, ‘ćevapi’ and ‘sarma’. The following are identified as national dishes: ‘pastrmajlija’, ‘sogan dolma’, ‘raštan’, ‘pašticada’, ‘burek’ and ‘svadbarski kupus’. The results indicated that some nations have specific knowledge of certain dishes being considered national and regionally present, while other nations show a lack of knowledge of food origin and regional presence in identified countries. Furthermore, the results showed that different dimensions of Balkan cuisine significantly contribute to the tourist potential of the region, while the contribution of its nutritive characteristics is perceived as less important. Results showed that ‘Balkan food’ is considered to be important for the improvement of the ‘Balkans'’ image and promotion, as well as important for the creation of the regional tourism brand.

Keywords: Food; Balkan; gastronomy; regional identity; local cuisine; national dishes; tourism brand

Introduction

The gastronomy of the Balkans has been considered to be the most positive aspect in terms of foreign tourist image of the region. All Balkan countries have recognised the special significance of gastronomy as a national tourism brand, which is evident in their promotional activities and marketing campaigns. However, this is done more or less unconsciously and with a lack of knowledge what is considered traditional local food and what shared regional food is. There are also disputes about what is perceived as a national variation of originally ‘Turkish’, ‘Greek’, ‘Bulgarian’, ‘Serbian’, ‘Bosnian’, ‘Macedonian’, ‘Croatian’ and ‘Montenegrin’ dishes. Even though there are similarities within the gastronomic offer between Balkan countries, there are also some differences as well, which are mostly reflected in the preparation methods of certain products, such as ‘kajmak’, ‘kulen’, ‘kobasica’, ‘pljeskavica’, ‘ćevapi’, ‘svadbarski kupus’, ‘salčići’ and ‘baklava’ (Vuksanović, 2017). Moreover, the image as a culinary destination is still weak for some Balkan countries, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina or Serbia, while on the other hand Croatia's image (especially for some Mediterranean dishes) has been more recognisable (Milohanović & Brščić, 2008;Peštek & Činjarević, 2014).

The tourism development process in south-eastern Europe (SEE) is marked by great potential and many problems. Even though SEE is emerging as a relatively new tourist destination, the term ‘Balkan’ is still used quite widely by international visitors to the region, regardless of the country that they are visiting (Smith et al., 2018). Shared territory and history, along with the intermingling of nations and cultures through migration flows, cultural exchange and strong civilisational impacts (Byzantium, Turkey, Austro-Hungarian Empire and Mediterranean countries), as well as common culture of living, resulted in the creation of a special identity of the Balkans, which is reflected in its multi-ethnicity and multiculturality (Terzić, Bjeljac, Karadžoski, & Jovanović, 2018). Although from a political perspective the image of the Balkans had a negative connotation for a very long time which is still present, from the tourism perspective, and especially in terms of gastronomy, the term ‘Balkans’ has started to reflect a more positive image recently. In specific tourist expressions, the term ‘Balkans’ describes special charm with unparallelled experience of life and impressions of the regional character of the territory which transcends the country boundaries, the cuisine, a tourist offer full of challenges, as well as joy, special atmosphere, cultural traditions and ethnic-based conflicts rooted deeply in history. Experiences rated as being ‘Balkan’ related appear mostly in a context where satisfaction is the dominant feeling; therefore, from the tourism perspective the term ‘Balkans’ does not necessarily carry unfavourable connotations, as it does in political and historical contexts (Smith et al., 2018).

Brands can transmit emotions that consumers recall or experience when they think of a specific symbol, product, service, organisation or location. Strong brands have the potential not only to attract consumers, but also to appeal to investment and business (Kotler & Gertner, 2002;Simeon, 2006). Supra-national brands can have an impact on visitor flows if the countries are quite similar and small or when they are relatively unknown, which can be the case in the Balkans (Smith et al., 2018). Such geographical names can even represent the service itself, by becoming a symbiotic brand which gains greater significance with distance (Kavaratzis, Warnaby, & Ashworth, 2014;Kozma, 1995;Papp-Váry, 2013;Smith et al., 2018). Furthermore, the term ‘Balkans’ in the international tourism sense for a long time has marked a specific region, notwithstanding some countries' hesitation about being subsumed under the ‘Balkan’ label (even fragmented and lumped together to an entity called ‘The Western Balkans’, as in the case of the countries of former Yugoslavia and Albania). For example, this is particularly true in the case of Asian tour operators (Bofulin, Raspor, Stranjančević, Bulatović, & Lacmanović, 2016). This region is identified with vast tourism potential, but also with underdeveloped infrastructure and low-quality services, lack of strategic planning, formal and informal barriers within the tourism industry, present inter-ethnic tensions, etc. (Ahn et al., 2009;Bofulin et al., 2016). Many authors agree that raising the collective consciousness of joint cultural heritage throughout the Balkans and their incorporation into joint tourist products is imposed as the first task in creating attractiveness for tourists outside the Balkan region. However, it is important to explore the ambivalence of different layers of identity in a cultural and historical context to identify the potential for coherent design and the shaping of tourist products (Dragićević Šešić & Rogač Mijatović, 2014), and gastronomy is one aspect of this effort.

According toSmith et al. (2018), based on different tourism-related image elements of the Balkans, gastronomy has the strongest appeal and potential for tourism ‘export’. For example, when describing Balkan gastronomy, foreign tourists tend to label the offer of a given catering facility as being ‘typically Balkan’, and they give mostly appreciative reviews in terms of food quality and service, stating that ‘standards of Balkan cuisine tend to be usually high’.

This study includes a literature review on gastronomy and tourism-related topics with a special focus on the Balkan region. Moreover, a historic approach will be applied by using basic food reflections of the Balkan Peninsula given byJovan Cvijić (1918,1922), to perceive the basic food habits and regional disparities, traditional local dishes and potential changes in food choice and preparation methods of different Balkan nations. A statistical outlook on the tourism flows in the Balkan region will also be given, indicating that most tourists in the Balkan region originate from the region itself. Therefore, their perception of local food should matter the most, having in mind that such tourists have specific knowledge about the local gastronomy and specific expectations as well. Furthermore, a special survey was conducted to indicate the locals' perception of gastronomic specificity of Balkan food and local food as well. A special questionnaire was prepared and submitted to the people from the Balkan region to identify whic...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• About the Contributors
• Preface
• Chapter 1 Gastronomy and Regional Identity: Balkan versus National Cuisine
• Chapter 2 Importance of Cheese Production in Livno and Vlašić for Gastronomy and Tourism Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Chapter 3 ‘There Is No Lunch without Potatoes’: Culinary Heritage of the Posavje Region in Tourism Supply
• Chapter 4 Are We Delicious Enough? – Challenges of Gastro-tourism Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Chapter 5 Image of Local Cuisine as Part of a Rural Tourism Offer
• Chapter 6 Development of Slovenia's Gastronomy – From Peasant Food to the European Region of Gastronomy 2021
• Chapter 7 Exploring Gastronomy and Event Interlinkages in DMOs' Strategic Activities – Two Croatian Destinations Perspective
• Chapter 8 Restaurant Online Reputation and Destination Competitiveness: Insight into TripAdvisor Data
• Chapter 9 Importance of Gastronomy for Further Tourism Development in Western Balkans Economies with Focus on Serbia
• Chapter 10 The Financial Potential of Gastronomy for Tourism Development in Croatia