CC BY
8A gricultural
Bulletin of Stavropol Regi
Stavropol Region
= № 4(24)/2 Supplement, 2016
UDK 338.48
Bjeljac Z., Petrovic M., Terzic A.
GASTRONOMIC EVENTS AS A PART OF TOURIST OFFER: A CASE STUDY OF SERBIA
Abstract: Gastronomic events have been an important part of the tourist offer of some state. They, through the culinary techniques and gastronomic specialties, represent the tradition, folklore and customary practices, as well as economic potential. They can become an independent tourist attraction, thematic route, but also the element of the intangible cultural heritage. Within this re-
search, the gastronomic event was presented as the part of economic events. The main goal of this research is to determine the potential of traditional culinary events to enhance the overall tourist offer of destinations, based on the Serbian case study.
Key words: gastronomy, events, tourism, Serbia.
Bjeljac Z. -
Senior research associate, head of social geography
department, Geographical Institute Jovan Cvijic Serbian
Academy of Sciences and Arts
Belgrade, Serbia.
Tel.: +381112636594
E-mail: z.bjeljac@gi.sanu.ac.rs
Petrovic M. -
Research associate,
Geographical Institute Jovan Cvijic SASA Belgrade, Serbia
E-mail: m.petrovic@gi.sanu.ac.rs Terzic A. -
Research associate, Geographical Institute Jovan Cvijic SASA
Belgrade, Serbia.
E-mail: a.terzic@gi.sanu.ac.rs
Introduction
Gastronomy is becoming an important attribute in the development of niche tourism, and has a special contribution in tourism development of destinations. The results of several international studies reveal that gastronomy plays a major role in the way tourists experience the destination, and indicate that some travelers would return to the same destination to savor its unique gastronomy.
On the famous tourism fairs in the world, the gastronomy is among of the most important tourist attractions of a country, beside the natural and cultural resources. As a promotional tool the gastronomic delights are usually served at stands of national organizations or presented through tourist promotional films. They, during the first decade of the 21st century became an independent tourist attraction. Gastronomy, is pulling the massive tourist flows towards destinations, whereas the gastronomy is regarded a primary motive of visit [1,13, 10,6,12].
It was Long M. L., who first coined the term «culinary tourism» in 1998 to express the idea of experiencing other cultures through food and, incidentally, wine. Gastronomic tourism is defined as «an activity of exploration and discovery of culture and history through food, which affects the formation of unforgettable experiences»[11], but also as «visits of tourists towards primary or secondary food producers, food festivals, restaurants for producing and serving of food and certain destinations for tasting and/or experiencing local gastronomic specialties, making the food the primary motive of travel»[7]. Wolf (2002), however, defines culinarian and gastronomy tourism as "travel in order to search for, and enjoy prepared food and drink ... and unique and
memorable gastronomic experiences." It is important to note that these experiences also have the power to modify our eating and drinking preferences and tastes as well as imbue us with experiences of the culture that we are visiting [8, 9].
Through gastronomic tourism permeate the other forms of tourism, such as rural and agritourism, as well as cultural and event tourism, etc. Gastronomic tourism connects two important economic activities, tourism and agriculture. Through agriculture (especially food production sector) tourism is also linked with some branches of the light industry. As one of the most important aspects, that combines gastronomy with other forms of tourism, stands out event tourism. Events represent the richness of culinary traditions and jointly with some local differences create a special national cuisine. In fact, gastronomy can play a pivotal role in the marketing of some tourist destinations, such as gourmet or culinary holidays to Asia, Italy, and France; wine regions in Tuscany and Provence, the Barossa Valley inNapa Valley in California, Normandy in France, Emilia Romagna in Italy and La Mancha region of Spain are renown as cheese lovers destinations, etc.
Culinary skills in food production are recognized by the UNESCO, considering the fact that on the international list of intangible cultural heritage. A significant number of traditional food-making techniques, such as Ancient Georgian traditional Qvevri wine-making method, Gastronomic meal of the French; Traditional Mexican cuisine, etc. (www.unesco.org)
As the regional gastronomy tourism niche market intensifies, and as more professionals begin to understand its role within their tourism industry, we will see more gastronomy tours, more food-orient-
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ed travel guidebooks, more focus on travel in epicure magazines, and more itineraries that celebrate food and drink as an integral part of the travel experience [8]. In fact, Serbia is also internationally renowned for its food. The recent activities of the National Tourist Organization of Serbia are marked with the strong promotion of gastronomic sector in Serbia. In 2012 the promotional activities had gastronomy as the main theme and the tourist publication «Soul Food Serbia» was printed. The tourism marketing campaign was successfully promoted on International Tourism Fair in London (2012).
Classification of gastronomic events
In order to enhance the tourism product of destination, different events are organized with the aim of presenting the agricultural products, improving the production conditions and increasing the overall profit, and so on. With appropriate entertainment, artistic or ethnographic program the market placement of the gastronomic delights is achieved. The main objective is to connect the end consumers of agricultural products and representatives of industries that use these products as a raw material. If on this occasion the program that presents to the public the old traditions of food-making process take place, then such events have a significant place in tourist industry. Moreover, it can also present the local tradition and folklore, or some educational and professional meetings in the filed of agriculture can be organized, along with some entertainment or marketing programs. Gastronomic events are the part of economic tourist events (economic - folkloristic) [2,3].
According to the general content, the event can be dedicated to wine, beer, fruits and vegetables, meat and dairy products, honey products and other agricultural products. They are usually the part of the ethnographic and tourist events, important elements of every folklore festival (through the presentation of folk customs, rituals, old crafting and trading ways, etc.) [3,4], but they also represent an important part of rural, eco-tourism, hunting and Ashing tourism sector.
Gastronomic tourism in Serbia
Rural areas in Serbia consist about 85 % of the state territory. On that territory lives over 40 % of total Serbian population, inhabiting 4537 settlements. The Republic of Serbia has about 5,06 million hectares of agricultural land, of which about 71 % is used intensively (in the form of arable land, orchards and vineyards), while 29 % of the agricultural area consists of natural grasslands (meadows and pastures). Participation of agriculture in overall employment in Serbia is 21.3 %. The most developed branches of agriculture are livestock breeding (pig, poultry, cattle) with about 43 % and farming (wheat, corn) with 42 %, followed by horticulture and viticulture (plums, raspberries, cherries, apples, etc.) with about 12 %, while other cultures are represented by three percent [13, 15].
According to the available sources, in Serbia, at the moment, about 2500 traditional tourist events is organized annually (www.manifestacije.com). About 321 economic folkloristic events, that are the base for creation of traditional gastronomic events, are organized each year. These events are based on, or they include in their main programme, the agricultural or food-making tradition, represented in the multicultural customary practices of the population that live in Serbia (Serbian, Hungarian, German, Romanian, Bosnian, Croatian, Slovakian, and others). They show the wealthy culinary tradition, that dates for a several past generations. In Serbia, gastronomic events are ranked among the most popular and highly visited events. Depending on the rank, from local to international, these events visit from several thousand to several hundred thousand visitors each year.
Concerning the gastronomic events dedicated to fruits and vegetables and products that are processed from it, we have singled out some most important events. Among them are the events dedicated to raspberries, watermelons, plums, cherries, apples and others. Namely, we single out for the example: The Raspberry Days in Valjevo; Days of Watermelon in Rivica; Days of the Plum in Blace and Osecina; Days of Cherry in Prokuplje and Mali Idos; Days of Apple (Palic, Bela Crkva), etc. [3]. There are also events that as separate present the products made from fruit, especially brandy («rakija») (the brandy from apples, plum, mulberry, etc.). Such events are the Brandy fest that place in Cajetina, Sabac, Kovilj, Pranjane village, and beer festivals in Belgrade, Zrenjanin, Pancevo.
Events dedicated to grapes and wines are usually organized in September and October, as well as in February (wine feast of St Trifun, on 14th of February). These events have a long tradition - with interruptions lasting from the second half of the 19th century [2]. Given that the viticulture is one of the most developed agricultural sectors in Serbia, winegrowing regions have been connected creating an attractive tourist destination in Serbia - Serbian Wine Routes.
Given the Serbia has great river systems, some special gourmet events connected to the fishery are taking place - such as Alas evenings, fish kettles, etc. (Danube, Drina, Morava river, etc.). As part of the ethnographic events, harvesting festivities dedicated to the old, traditional way of doing business and the ritual preparation of bread (in Subotica, Sombor, Kragujevac, etc.) are organized. Moreover, some gastronomic specialties and cooking techniques are presented in the Parliaments of national folklore and craftsmanship that are held all around Serbia, such as Bridgants ("hajduk") evenings, Herdsmen days and other similar events [5]. Gastronomic events which include the preparation of culinary specialties made of meat, meat and dairy products are also widely represented. As appropriate we highlight some of them: Prsutijada (in Mackat village), Bacon festival (in Kacarevo), Kulen festival
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Bulletin of Stavropol Region
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(Backi Petrovac), Sausage festival (Turija), Grill and barbecue festivals (in Vrnjacka Banja and Leskovac, etc.) and many others.
Based on this research, according to the ge-ographical1 and economic indicators2 that were evaluated[3], the most representative gastronomic events, that present an independent tourist attraction, were singled out. Those are namely: Grape harvesting days in Vrsac scoring the highest 108 points; Beer Days in Zrenjanin received 105 points; and Duzijanca - harvesting festivities in Subotica, got 97 points. These events are placed in the first category of tourist events in Serbia, with highest tourist visitation. In the second category were: Grape harvest days in Sremski Karlovci which takes 96 points; Bacon fest in Kacarevo with 94 points; Oplenac grape harvest in Topola, scoring 93 points; Grill festival in Leskovac with 91 points; Pumpkin Days in Kikinda 87 points; Autumn in Smederevo and Vintage Days in Palic scoring 80 points each; Sausage days in Turija, 79 points; Wine gardian days in Irig with 78 points; The parish vintage in Aleksandrovac got 77 points and Beekeepers Days in Alibunar received 74 points.
Beside these events, that were highlighted and evaluated on the numeric scales, there is a vast number of gastronomic festivities that are considered to be an important part of the tourist offer of destinations or even regions. Such gastronomic events are held on annual basis in some smaller towns and villages, and we need to mention some of them: Days of raspberries in Valjevo, Pork cracklings festival (Valjevo), Days of Hungarian cuisine (Kanjiza), Kuglof fest (Sremski Karlovci), Burek festival (Nis), Bean festival (Veliko Gradiste), Cheese festival (Pirot), Banitsa Days (Bela Palanka), Strudel Festival (Dolovo), Kulen Festival (Backi Petrovac), Karadorde's Gourmand Days (Velika Plana), Memorial for mulberry (mulberry brandy, Kovilj), Weifert Beer Days (Pancevo), Apatin Fishermen evenings, Novi Pazar's small pies, Pirot Belmuz cheese dish (Svrljig), etc. Some culinary products in Serbia were created based on a special traditional skill development that are considered to be a part of the intangible cultural heritage of Serbia. This is compounded by the fact that of the total 28 elements of registered intangible cultural heritage of
Serbia placed on the national list, there are three gastronomic specialties (Novi Pazar's small pies, Pirot cheese and Belmuz cheese dish)3.
Each of these events are held in tourist destinations in Serbia, and mentioned gastronomic products are considered to be an integral part of the overall offer of all accommodation facilities and restaurants within those destinations. Moreover, every region has special local dishes to be offered to tourists, which makes it more appealing on the tourist market.
Conclusion
Gastronomic tourism in the first decade of the 21stcentury is becoming increasingly important. Some experts if the field consider it to be a strong motive for the new global tourism trends. In addition to the elements of enjoyment and entertainment (hedonism and bohemianism), gastronomic tourism is closely related to the rural, agro, cultural, event, hunting and fishing tourism. As such, it is a very important element of the general tourist offer. Event tourism is a form of tourism that combines gastronomy with all these elements. Also, the tourist events take and important place in marketing process and are considered to be the best way to promote the gastronomic tourism, or, even more, for market placement of national gastronomic products. All this can be clearly seen in the case of Serbian tourism offer and the activities of the national and local tourist organizations that place national food and gastronomic events in the focal point of international promotional activities.
Acknowledgment: The paper is supported by Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia (Grant III 47007).
1 content, origin of visitors and participants, rank of the event, traditionality (based on the continuity of the event), location (city) of the venue, transport, accessibility and connections, time and duration of the event, the number of visitors and participants, the artistic quality of the programme, the number of accompanying events, satisfaction of visitors, the organization aspects of the event (each of those categories was evaluated on the basis of the Linkert numerical scale, from 0 to 5 points).
2 the impact of capital projects, ecological, economic, media, marketing and political impact, stakeholder relations, as well as evaluating cooperation with tourist organizations are evaluated. Each of these categories were rated on the scale from 0 to 4 points, as well as the observed situation immediately before and after the holding of the event).
3 Novi Pazar's small pies are interesting dish made of cheese or meat, made in form of small snacks, that are characteristic for the area inhabited with the Bosnian Muslim minority in Serbia. Belmuz dish is a traditional shepherddish made of cheese and cornflour, originating from Eastern parts of Serbia.
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