Importance of Gastronomy for Further Tourism Development in Western Balkans Economies with Focus on Serbia
Gastronomy for Tourism Development
ISBN: 978-1-78973-756-1, eISBN: 978-1-78973-755-4
Publication date: 26 August 2020
Abstract
Today tourism is recognised as a very complex social and economic phenomenon having a spatial, socio-cultural, economic, political, educational and environmental dimension. Furthermore, tourismis transformingtowards an individual and his/her needs, desires and interests, with a full respect for the surroundings and environment, which are given an increasing importance. Consequently, there have been changes not only in the structure of tourist consumption and in the behaviour of tourists, but also in the concept of a tourist offer. In this sense, numerous forms of special interest tourism are increasingly being developed in response to the needs of modern tourists to experience something new, authentic and different from their everyday environment. Tourists, saturated with the global trends' consequences that dominantly foster a kind of uniformity on their trips, are increasingly looking for the uniqueness or experience that is different from their own culture. Gastronomy, as a part of the local community's cultural identity, stood out as an authentic element of the tourist destination's offer, to which tourists are increasingly paying attention, which is increasingly becoming the basic motive of travelling for modern tourists.
Taking into account the current trends of the leading global source markets of the world, as well as the growing need to create a common tourist offer of the Western Balkan economies, this concept of Mountain Breakfast applied in the Western Serbia Region could represent a good example and a platform for connecting tradition, local producers, gastronomy and tourism.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
The research was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, the Republic of Serbia (Grant III 47009 and 179015).
The Regional Development Agency Zlatibor from the City of Užice, from 2009 to the present, has implemented several projects, with the financial support of various donors, representing certain stages of the overall process of valorization and establishment of a system of adequate protection and promotion of traditional products in the Western Serbia Region. Of particular importance is the project ‘Regional Value Chain in the Area of Municipal Cooperation’. The key inspiration for the emergence of this chapter is the experience and results gained from the creation and implementation of the Mountain Breakfast project, as well as the establishment of a quality guarantee for local products and services. We would like to thank Mr Slavko Lukić, Director of the Regional Development Agency Zlatibor, for his cooperation and support in the process of writing this chapter.
Citation
Marković, M.R. and Pindžo, R. (2020), "Importance of Gastronomy for Further Tourism Development in Western Balkans Economies with Focus on Serbia", Peštek, A., Kukanja, M. and Renko, S. (Ed.) Gastronomy for Tourism Development, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 185-209. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78973-755-420201009
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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