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PART I
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Research issues from a European perspective
Santini Cristina1 and Alessio Cavicchi2
Introduction
Stakeholder theory has been increasingly applied by scholars in the field of events, particularly food and wine events, which have become more numerous worldwide over the years. This chapter will describe the increased importance of food and wine events as a research issue by exploring the motivations behind scholarly interest in this topic. Then we will focus on stakeholder theory in events and, more specifically, in food and wine events, and will look at research questions that could be investigated through a stakeholder approach. Finally, we will present future research trends and needs to be met.
The reasons behind the growing interest in food and wine events
Research on food and wine events has seen rapid growth over the last decades. In a work published in 2010, Donald Getz clearly explains how and why research on food and wine events has evolved over the years and outlines research trends and issues. Research covers a range of topics, from event management and network development to the economic development of local communities and the sustainability of these events. The emerging academic interest in food and wine events can be explained by the following insights:
The impressive growth of food and wine festivals all over the world.
The proliferation of food and wine events in the world (Lee and Arcodia, 2011; Stewart et al., 2008) is not surprising, due to widespread interest among consumers, professionals, institutions and others in food and wine. It is impossible to accurately number the food and wine festivals organized in Europe to attract this particular sector of tourism, as local associations and volunteer groups in many countries are free to promote new events (Cavicchi et al., 2013). Thus, we can only confirm the positive trend identified by researchers, without being able to specifically quantify how much this sector is growing.
The importance given by policy makers to the role that local food and wine events can have in the development of local economies.
The importance of food and wine events to local development is widely recognized (du Rand and Heath, 2006). Not only do these events contribute to reinforcing a “sense of place” among tourists and visitors (Hall and Sharples, 2008a), but they can be a strategic tool for branding foods (Hjalager and Corigliano, 2000; Hall and Sharples, 2008) and can play a key role in destination branding (Lee and Arcodia, 2011; du Rand et al., 2003). The relationships between successful food and wine events and local economic development have been widely explored and confirmed by scholars.
Increased interest shown by academicians.
A positive mark of scholarly interest in the issue of food and wine events is the birth of some journals – such as the 1993 establishment of Festival Management and Event Tourism, later re-named Event Management – dedicated to providing much more space to a research topic that in the past had a narrower place in other academic publications (Getz, 2010). In general, it can be said that the attractiveness of a research issue grows as academicians find more outlets in which to debate about it: journals that dedicate special issues to a selected research theme, or conferences that organize tracks focused on food- and wine-related businesses have nourished scholarly discussion and provided new formats and venues for sharing research results.
The birth of academician networks.
As noted above, the more opportunities academicians have for sharing their work, the greater the flow of information. Networks have a primary role in knowledge sharing among scholars. Academic associations and communities facilitate personal networking and the exchange of knowledge. Internet facilitates the sharing of insights, the exchange of knowledge and the development of networks, such as the famous Tourism Research Information Network (TRINET), a very useful academic community for educational and research (Hung et al., 2010).
The need to answer questions about event effectiveness, management and policy making, posed by people affected by events.
As we mentioned above, the phenomenon of food and wine events is continuously evolving. Thus, new issues and concerns emerge; scholars are asked to provide answers to some open research questions about event effectiveness and management.
Institutional funding policies that support research on food- and wine-related business.
Institutions and policy makers have given attention in recent years to the food- and wine-related business, in order to support local economies and rural development and to preserve the authenticity of local products. Food-and wine-related activities have a primary role in upgrading the economic and intangible value of products, organizations and places. Institutions have considered the role that food- and wine-related activities have in local development and have dedicated resources to support research in this field. A prime example is the European Union which, in its Rural Development Policy, has targeted funds specifically for this issue.
European initiatives to stimulate tourism and the need for a stakeholder approach
In recent years, the European Commission has taken many approaches to stimulating tourism, given that Tourism as an economic sector in Europe is affected by numerous policy areas such as enterprise and industry, particularly the food and wine industry, agricultural and rural development, cross-border cooperation, and education and culture. Very useful for its comprehensive overview of EU initiatives and their importance for competitiveness in tourism is the December 2012 study prepared for the European Commission’s Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry on “The impact of EU policies and the measures undertaken in their framework on tourism” (RPA, 2012), based upon a consultation from November 2011 to January 2012 with key industry stakeholders, authorities from member nations, and the European Commission. Two issues that are particularly relevant to stakeholders emerged from the document.
First, although cultural events could contribute to the development of regional tourism in Europe, they have seldom been fully exploited to this end. The study recommended that planners of cultural events should seek to maximize the positive, long-term impact of the event on their area as a tourist destination, drawing advice from guidelines such as those offered by AMNYOS Consultants (2007). The report provides several useful recommendations. Specifically, stakeholders such as tourism SMEs and their organizations, local authorities and organizers of cultural (and sporting) events, as well as local residents should adopt a strategic planning perspective. The study also recommended that the EU Commission should “investigate and encourage new types of tourism, for instance investigate the barriers to the development of rural tourism and engage in a dialogue with relevant policy stakeholders to address these barriers.”
Thus, the European Commission Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry is implementing its ambitious 2007 “Agenda for a Sustainable and Competitive European Tourism,” built on the recommendations of the European Commission Tourism Sustainability Group. Probably the most important achievement of this Communication was the public acknowledgement that the competitiveness of the European tourism industry is strictly linked to its sustain-ability, as the quality of tourist destinations is strongly influenced by their natural and cultural environment and their integration into the local community. Since the publication of this document, the European Commission has been extremely active in promoting and funding cross-national sustainable and cultural tourism initiatives that preserve natural and cultural resources, limit negative impact on tourist destinations, use natural resources well and deal properly with waste, promote the wellbeing of the local community, reduce the seasonality of demand, limit the transport-related environmental impact of tourism, make tourism accessible to all and improve the quality of tourism jobs.
Two such programs to implement this Agenda, jointly managed with the Council of Europe, offer funding for projects to support and enhance “sustainable trans-national thematic tourism products” and “cultural tourism and cultural routes.” These programs seek to enhance the development of cultural routes crossing several countries and organized on different topics; they embrace cycling paths, eco-tourism products, sports tourism, eno-gastronomic tourism, health and wellbeing tourism, tourism based on protected natural sites, nature tourism, historical, religious-pilgrim tourism, and other ideas. These programs are very promising for the regional food and wine events organized along these routes; stakeholder engagement at international level is one of the essential elements of their implementation.
Another topic of concern for the European Commission Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry is the competitiveness of the European food and beverage industry, and in this context, food and wine events may provide opportunities. Successful festivals and events can increase local development, in the sense that through them local producers meet new customers and establish contacts for opening new national or international markets. As the market for professionally run eno-gastronomic international fairs grows, there is increasing need for workers who are familiar with these products and possess strong marketing and communication skills. They are essential for bringing the special characteristics of the local area, especially those of its food and wine, to a broader audience, and thus developing the local economy involving as much as possible every level of the supply chain.
We believe that Food and Wine events should be carefully planned with a long-term perspective and the largest number of stakeholders should be considered in the attempt to address the difficulties of rural development planning (Cavicchi et al., 2013). In fact according to Lang (1988), interconnectedness, complicatedness, uncertainty, ambiguity, pluralism and conflict, and societal constraints of rural locations need a long-lasting integrated and interactive approach, focused on shared interests and values.
Since 1991, the European Union Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, through its LEADER programme (Links between Actions for the Development of the Rural Economy), has tried to address these needs by promoting a participatory bottom-up approach to rural development (Ray, 1998) that emphasizes public-private-voluntary sector partnerships and the genuine involvement of local people. Rural development also means “development by and of the local community, not just for it” (Moseley, 1997: 202, cited in Scott, 2004) because decisions are more likely to “stick” if they are made locally and reflect a community consensus (Scott, 2004).
The European Community agricultural and rural development policy is of prime importance in promoting an integrated approach to rural tourism (and tourism in rural areas) where resources, products, services and the local community are interconnected. In this context, we believe that the issues of sustainability and integrity of tourist sites and the carrying capacity of food and wine events have to be considered in the next programming period 2014–2020 to distribute resources efficiently among different rural areas in Europe.
In order to reduce disparities among regions throughout Europe several initiatives, involving numerous stakeholders, have been adopted in different cross-border cooperation programs during the programming period 2007–2013; these efforts have also included direct or indirect funding of food and wine events. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), managed by the European Commission Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, and the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) funded 53 cross-border cooperation programs. The ERDF, EU members and potential EU candidate countries financed 13 transnational cooperation programs and 4 interregional coop...
