Culinary Tourism—A Case Study of the Gastronomic Capital

Abstract

Culinary tourism as part of a tourism strategy for a locale has received growing support. Though the literature seems to support a connection between tourism and gastronomy, little is known about its value in traditional gastronomic regions versus nontraditional locales. To explore these differences, this study uses case study methods to evaluate culinary tourism in Lyon and the Rhône-Alpes region. The findings have important implications on culinary tourism strategy development and implementation, particularly for tourism product life cycle issues.