La diversi fi cación del destino turístico a través del turismo gastro- nómico: el caso de Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona)

Abstract

The development of tourism and, in particular public administration has sought to adapt to new trends and demands of the tourist market (Fayos-Solá, 2004), thus generating one of the most remarkable and structural changes which constitutes the emergence of new touristical dynamics (Lopez Palomeque and X. Font, 2010), one of which is Catalonia that searches in gastronomy tourism, a product and an alternative diversification for the touristic offer. In order to diversify the offer, historically concentrated in the sun and beach tourism, The City of Vilanova i la Geltrú opted for gastronomy tourism, from the creation and promotion of the “Gastronomy city plan” thorugh articulating public and private . Vilanova is an area of particular interest because of its proximity to Barcelona makes it a scenario that is constantly looking for authenticity and differentiation of a highly competitive tourism brand. This paper examines the gastronomic resource of Vilanova together with public and private actions to strengthen this diversi fication of tourism through the application of the methodology SWOT as an analytical tool, which allows us to observe their strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities related to the gastronomy of the area.

Keywords

• Gastronomy tourism
• Food
• Catalonia
• Diversifying tourism
• Tourist resources