Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The wine, food and tourism industries all rely on regional branding for market
leverage and promotion (Hall et al. 1997-8; Hall and Macionis 1998). Indeed, the
geographic origins of food are increasingly being protected under intellectual property
regulation (Hall et al. 2003). Hall (1996b:114) describes the importance of tourism place
and wine appellation or region thus: 'there is a direct impact on tourism in the
identification of wine regions because of the inter-relationships that may exist in the
overlap of wine and destination region promotion and the accompanying set of economic
and social linkages.' In addition, relationships between food and tourism are also created
through the purchasing patterns of tourists which may have a significant impact on local
production and the maintenance or expansion of the local farming economy (Reynolds
1993; Telfer and Wall 1996; Bell and Valentine 1997; Van Westering 1999; R.Mitchell
and Hall 2001, 2003; A.Smith and Hall 2003).
Tourism has long been regarded as having the potential to contribute to regional
development. However, ongoing economic restructuring and change in rural areas has
increased the focus on tourism and how agricultural production may be enhanced through
tourism demand. Moreover, these changes have been accompanied by the perceived need
to retain or attract people in rural areas, maintain aspects of 'traditional' rural lifestyles
and agricultural production, and conserve aspects of the rural landscape (Van Westering
1999). Many wine regions around the world have been affected by changed patterns of
demand for wine and levels of tariff protection that has led to the planting of new grape
varieties or, in some cases, loss of vineyards to other forms of production. Yet demand
has also meant that some areas, particularly in New World wine regions such as
Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, have now been planted which had
previously not been seriously considered for commercial wine production (Telfer 2000a,
2000b; Moran 2001). Within this context food and wine tourism is therefore emerging as
an increasingly important component of rural diversification and development (Hall et al.
2000a, 2000b).
Strategies to integrate tourism and cuisine in order to promote economic development
and the creation of sustainable food systems occur at national, regional and local levels
(Hall and Mitchell 2002). Ideally, these levels should be integrated in order to maximise
the likelihood of policy success (Thorsen and Hall 2001; A.Smith and Hall 2003).
However, often the reality is that different levels of government and industry will
undertake their own initiatives without consulting or co-operating with other levels. As
Figure 6.1 indicates, there are a number of mechanisms for promoting sustainable food
systems utilising the relationship between wine and food, each of which operates most
effectively at particular levels. Although intervention by the national and local state will
occur at all levels it is very common for the policy activities at the higher level to be
implemented at the lower level in order to achieve targeted regional and local
development goals. This approach has been particularly common within the European
Union and in federal states, such as Australia, Canada and the United States (Hall et al.
2000a; Telfer 2000a, 2000b).
At the national and regional level promotion
