Enogastronomic Tourism: can it mitigate the Intangibility of the Destination? Streetfood as a new Business Model for the Management of Tourist Regions

Abstract According to the literature, one of the most obvious and immediately perceptible limitations in tourism concerns the intangibility of the product/service provided, defined as the inability to assess objectively the tangible and intangible aspects of a tourist destination if not having visited it before, making – actually – uncertain the selection process of the interest variables. This means that when we decide to visit a destination we have to rely on a set of images, descriptions, videos and information from which we extrapolate a mix of probably interesting elements able convince us and bring us towards the chosen place. For this purpose, is it possible to consider the search for a particular gastronomic product – presumably already experienced anywhere else – as a factor that could partially break down the intangibility of the destination? It is clear that the methods of territory tourist attraction don’t work exclusively through the traditional communication levers but, in recent years, there are many alternative forms that allow the development of destinations. Among the most diffused ones, we can certainly consider food and beverage events, which – more and more – are closely linked to other concepts today extremely popular, like the streetfood and craft beers. We are witnessing a rediscovery of traditional food values, together with the discovery of a new market segment dedicated to craft beer, which today is experiencing one of the maximum growth periods, reaching to touch quota 1000 in Italy, between microbreweries, brewpubs and beer firm. The matching with the streetfood is the piece that makes up the puzzle of this new model of tourism management. The objective of the study is to investigate about the economic value generated by these events, by measuring what are the material and immaterial benefits of which an area can benefit when it becomes the venue of these events. © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V