engleski

Food as factor of country image: the case of Croatia

Food is a multi-functional phenomen today, playing an important role in the manufacturing industry, the travel industry, retailing, agriculture, tourism etc. As consumers have increasingly echoed a desire for preserving nature and the environment, for health improvement, and for exploring new cultures, interest in the role of food in the creation of a destination image and in tourism development has grown as well. The main purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of how food contributes to the image of the country. Namely, food has become part of "the travel package" in today`s tourism industry which is developed in order to satisfy "new" consumer needs (Trunio et al., 2006). In such a way, food will play a major role in hedonistic consumption (Irvine and Anderson, 2004) and in the development of more holistic impressions, such as mental pictures and feelings towards a destination, which is a part of a destination`s image (Greaves and Skinner, 2010). Findings from a study of tourists in Croatia suggest that food can serve as a country`s communication tool in the development of the country`s image. Further, in the specific case of Croatia, food products may reflect the perception of Croatia as a country of unpolluted soil and a clean sea.

Food; image; Croatia

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