TANG 2005 Using Local Food and Drink to Differentiate Tourism Destinations through a Sense of...

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Using Local Food and Drinkto Differentiate TourismDestinations Through a Senseof PlaceClaire Haven-Tang a & Eleri Jones aa Welsh School of Hospitality, Tourism and LeisureManagement , University of Wales Institute, Cardiff ,Colchester Avenue, Cardiff, CF23 9XR, UKPublished online: 03 Oct 2008.

To cite this article: Claire Haven-Tang & Eleri Jones (2005) Using Local Food andDrink to Differentiate Tourism Destinations Through a Sense of Place, Journal ofCulinary Science & Technology, 4:4, 69-86, DOI: 10.1300/J385v04n04_07

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Using Local Food and Drinkto Differentiate Tourism Destinations

Through a Sense of Place:A Story from Wales–Dining

at Monmouthshire’s Great Table

Claire Haven-TangEleri Jones

ABSTRACT. The importance of using local food and drink to develop a“Sense of Place,” create a unique visitor experience and differentiatetourism destinations while providing economic benefits to the localcommunity cannot be underestimated. This paper will present researchcommissioned by Adventa, Monmouthshire’s LEADER � programme,which was designed to develop a Sense of Monmouthshire trainingmodule aimed at tourism businesses in Monmouthshire. While the train-ing module specifically focuses on Monmouthshire there are generic les-sons about the use of local food and drink. A “Sense of Place” can beused to exploit the unique attributes of a destination, but it needs to be se-lectively customised by individual businesses to exploit the distinctivesocial and cultural characteristics of a destination and provide a uniquevisitation experience. Through an integrated and holistic approach to

Claire Haven-Tang (E-mail: [email protected]) is Post-Doctoral ResearchFellow and Eleri Jones (E-mail: [email protected]) is Head of Welsh School ofHospitality, Tourism and Leisure Management, both at Welsh School of Hospitality,Tourism and Leisure Management, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, ColchesterAvenue, Cardiff, CF23 9XR, UK.

The authors wish to acknowledge the role of Adventa in commissioning this re-search project.

Journal of Culinary Science & Technology, Vol. 4(4) 2005Available online at http://jcst.haworthpress.com

© 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.doi:10.1300/J385v04n04_07 69

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tourism development the Sense of Monmouthshire training moduleshould help to extend the tourism season, enhance quality, developcommunity pride and preserve Monmouthshire’s identity. doi:10.1300/J385v04n04_07 [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Docu-ment Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <[email protected]> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2005 byThe Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

KEYWORDS. Sense of Place, local food and drink, identity, uniquevisitation experience, tourism businesses

INTRODUCTION

Tourism has become an industry of major importance in Wales andrural areas, such as Monmouthshire, are increasingly using tourism as ameans of sustaining the local community and economy. While some de-scribe authenticity as a spent issue (Anon cited in Jamal and Hill, 2004,p. 353), it can counter Ritzer’s (2004) concept of “McDonaldization,”the development of identikit destinations (Holloway, 1998) and thecommodification of cultures (MacCannell, 1992). Despite the premiumthat high-quality tourism and hospitality products can command, thecore tourism product is very similar across the sector, particularly in ru-ral areas, which tend to lack the iconic backdrops of many tourist desti-nations (e.g., Sydney Opera House, Eiffel Tower, and Angel of theNorth). Ooi (2004, p. 112) asserts that “destinations are becoming moreglobalised and alike in their offerings and infrastructure.” As a result,rural tourism destinations, such as Monmouthshire in Wales, are com-peting in very crowded marketplaces with few differentiating features.Therefore, innovative augmentation of the core product using local cul-ture and produce to develop a “Sense of Place” can make the destinationand tourism businesses within the destination more distinctive and es-tablish a unique selling proposition (USP). Furthermore, opportunitiesexist to broaden access to tourism throughout society and to accentuateits local economic impact by developing stronger links between tourismbusinesses and local suppliers.

Tourism creates destinations with different potential experiences(Suvantola, 2002), from simply consuming the place and its attractionsto purchasing accommodation, food, transport, and other support ser-vices. While a Sense of Place can be used to exploit the unique attributesof a destination and differentiate it from competitor destinations, it

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needs to be selectively customised by individual businesses to exploitthe distinctive social and cultural characteristics of a destination andprovide a unique visitation experience enabling visitors to soak up theatmosphere, sample local produce, and participate in local events. Theactive engagement of local residents in the development of a Sense ofPlace promotes quality of life in local communities and can help to pre-serve the cultural capital and natural assets of a destination for futuregenerations. Destinations must realise the importance of local food anddrink in the tourism offer and their contribution to unique visitationexperiences, as well as the local economy. This enables rural destina-tions, such as Monmouthshire, to capitalise on their principal assets as atourism destination, that is, their distinctive culture and agriculturallinks. This paper presents research designed to develop a Sense of Mon-mouthshire training module aimed at the operators of tourism bus-inesses in Monmouthshire and outlines how the celebration of difference,through the use of local food and drink, can provide regions with the op-portunity to incorporate cultural distinctiveness within economic devel-opment.

THE NEED FOR A SENSE OF PLACE

The expansion of cultural and heritage tourism demonstrates a trendtowards the conversion of former production spaces into consumptionspaces, primarily for leisure purposes and fuelled by the growth of heri-tage tourism and cultural tourism (Richards, 1996). However, culturaltourism is not just confined to the visual consumption of “high-culture”artefacts, such as theatres, art galleries and opera (Kneafsey, 1998), buthas expanded to include: soaking up the atmosphere of a place (Rich-ards, 1996); sampling local food (Ilbery & Kneafsey, 1998; Bessière,1998) and participating in local events. Local people and lifestyles are afundamental resource in the cultural and heritage tourism product andsuccess is often dependent on their active engagement (Kneafsey, 1998).This is emphasised by the Wales Tourist Board’s (WTB) strategy(2000, p. 75), which states,

Without the support of the local host community, the potentialbenefits arising from tourism are unlikely to be fully realized. Thisis particularly the case in smaller rural areas where the visitor ex-perience is often more intimately linked with the people and theplace.

Claire Haven-Tang and Eleri Jones 71

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Indeed, local community engagement in the tourism product can be away of regenerating a sense-of-place identity (Feehan, 1992), particu-larly in rural areas, as local communities can reflect on their surround-ings and how they can work together for the benefit of the community,as well as visitors. Visitors are increasingly seeking distinctive and dif-ferent experiences and a Sense of Place can be variously interpreted. Itmay refer to a set of personal, family, and community stories which in-clude features of place and which create an attachment to a place; or anembedded body of knowledge about a place–the history, legends, geog-raphy, geology, flora, and fauna; or a feeling that communities andpeople are special and distinct from anywhere else, non-material chara-cteristics which create the “soul” or “spirit” of a place. Ultimately, aSense of Place embraces everything that is unique and distinctive abouta place–those special and memorable qualities that resonate with localpeople and visitors.

Holloway (1998) discusses how many tourism destinations havetaken a user-orientated approach in their design and development, ratherthan a resource-orientated approach, that is, based on the resources in thedestination. The user-orientated approach leads to identikit destina-tions, which, apart from location, are identical in many ways andpossess few distinctive features. Similarly, Ritzer’s (2004) McDonald-ization of Society concept highlights how the dominance of globalfranchised operators, such as McDonalds and Starbucks, can lead topredictability of product and service in destinations. The Sense of Placeconcept adopts a more resource-orientated approach that focuses on thenatural, physical and socio-cultural assets of a destination. In this way,the destination can develop its distinctive features, create a unique iden-tity, and avoid the “McGuggenheimisation” of cultural experiences(Richards and Wilson, forthcoming). The WTB’s strategy emphasisesthe importance of creating “a positive, distinctive and motivating iden-tity for Wales as an attractive tourism destination in target UK and over-seas markets” (WTB, 2000, p. 7). In Wales, the cultural tourism productis extremely diverse:

The uniqueness of Wales’ history, language, culture and way oflife are distinctive assets essential to sustaining a well-balancedtourism industry. Wales has a Celtic heritage with a strong culturaland linguistic tradition. Unlike other parts of the UK, it is a countryof two living languages. . . . In tourism terms, Welsh culture hasoften been defined too narrowly in the past and expressed by refer-ence to castles, costumes and coracles. (WTB, 2000, p. 80)


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In response to research identifying cultural identity and history askey motivators for visits to Wales, but showing a shortfall in visitor sat-isfaction with their experiences, the WTB (2003) developed a CulturalTourism Strategy for Wales (WTB, 2003), committing to a Sense ofPlace toolkit to celebrate differences and exploit destination attributes.The purpose of the WTB’s toolkit is to: improve quality and enhance thetourism product across Wales; boost business and enhance status in acompetitive market; and promote the immediate and far-ranging bene-fits of working with distinctly local products. For the tourism business itadds value and improves competitiveness and profitability while con-tributing to the tourism multiplier effect within the local economy.However, WTB’s toolkit is not tailored to specific destinations andlacks guidance for implementation by tourism businesses. This paperdescribes a project that sought to demonstrate how selective customi-sation of Sense of Place in individual tourism businesses could generatea unique visitation experience. The WTB (2003) assert that visitors arenow looking for an experience and expect authenticity, not just a desti-nation. They outline the extent of the product in Wales, which includes“performing visual and literary arts, museums, built and social heritage,historic landscapes and gardens, crafts, architecture, design, film, relig-ion, broadcasting, food and sport” (WTB, 2003, p. 11).

THE IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL FOOD AND DRINKTO THE RURAL TOURISM OFFER

The WTB (2003) also recognises that visitors place increasing em-phasis on experiencing regionally distinctive food and drink. “Guinnesshas boosted Ireland’s image internationally, while the Scottish foodbrand has virtually been built on having unique products such as hag-gis” (Hemsley, 2004, p. 6). Welsh produce is now beginning to be seenas authentic and wholesome, boosted by initiatives such as the WelshDevelopment Agency’s (WDA) True Taste Awards. The WTB, in con-junction with the WDA, have produced a Food for Thought toolkit(2005) which aims to encourage the tourism industry in Wales to buildmenus using good quality fresh local ingredients. It acknowledges thatvisitors value taste, image, freshness, quality, and experience and thatthere is a growing interest in real food with an emphasis on slow (as op-posed to fast) food (Ritzer, 2004). Slow food is an international move-ment promoting local food and wine cultures and worldwide food andagricultural biodiversity. The slow food movement opposes the stand-


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ardisation of taste, protects cultural identities tied to food and gastro-nomic traditions and safeguards traditional cultivation and processingtechniques (Slowfood.com, 2005). The success of organic food, pre-mium meat, and other specialist products has revived an interest insmall-scale production.

Aligned to this is a growing interest in the traceability of food anddrink, as visitors want to understand where the produce originates from,and an increased popularity in farmers’ markets and farm shops. Forvisitors wishing to experience something of local culture and tradition,food and drink are essential components and can emphasise local andregional distinctiveness. “By nature, food products have a land-basedand therefore regional geographic origin” (Bérard and Marchenay,1995 cited in Kuznesof et al., 1997, p. 199). Reconsidering food pro-curement can give tourism businesses a competitive edge, enablingthem to create a distinctive identity and differentiating them from theircompetitors while also contributing to the local tourism multiplier ef-fect. Through a multiplier effect, tourism can be a major contributor tolocal income and prosperity, as the economic impacts of tourism for thelocal community are maximised. However, these benefits can only berealised if imports are minimised, as the procurement of non-local pro-duce creates leakage in the local economy. The “Danish bacon effect”amongst many accommodation operators is one example of leakage inthe local economy, whereby operators select food products based onprice, rather than quality and provenance. In addition to the disadvan-tages created by leakage, the overall quality of the visitor experiencemay be affected, as they are not exposed to the benefits of local produce.“We believe that one of the greatest opportunities for farmers to addvalue and retain a bigger slice of retail prices is to build on the public’senthusiasm for locally produced food, or food with a clear regionalprovenance” (Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food,2002 cited in Morris and Buller, 2003, p. 559).

Visitor demands for authenticity are often a result of a desire forsomething different or out of the ordinary, in addition, visitors are gen-erally willing to pay higher prices for authenticity. Food from a specificarea can be “an expression of the region, it is produced from local ingre-dients that are suited to regional soil and climate and transformedthrough the specific skills of local people” (Mason and Brown, 1999cited in Groves, 2001, p. 246). “Agronomic or environmental factor orhistoric precedent are generally employed to define the territorial para-meters of product designations, such as the French Appellation d’originecontrolée or the European Union’s PDO and PGI labels” (Ilbery and


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Kneafsey, 2000 cited in Morris and Buller, 2003, p. 561). However,“local food” in the United Kingdom, is generally defined by the countyor region in which it is produced. Fotopoulos and Krystallis (2003,pp. 1352-1353) assert that:

The use of Protected Denomination of Origin/Protected Geo-graphical Indication (PDO/PGI) labels by food companies has be-come a marketing strategy very similar to branding. Such labelsprovide consumers with information on the area of production andthus imply originality and authenticity. . . . A PDO label may notprovide a food product with a value similar to that of an old,worldwide known and heavily advertised brand name (e.g., Mc-Donald’s), however, it gives regional products, usually made bysmall producers, a competitive advantage similar to that of a brandname.

Many regional culinary customs can encompass distinctive personaltouches and secret ingredients (Groves, 2001). Ewing-Mulligan andMcCarthy (2004, p. 52) note that while blending wines from differentregions produces wine at attractive prices, “they are wines without aplace” and technological advances in wine-making “abdicate their wines’Sense of Place.” Asimov (2004) asserts that a Sense of Place in the winebusiness refers to wines, which convey a special combination of soil,climate, and human touch–encompassed in the mystical French wordterroir. He states that wines do not have to be aristocratic to have aSense of Place, just true to their origins. Groves (2001, p. 252) assertsthat “perceptions of authenticity are stronger where there is the presenceof an authority.” As a result, this provides regional food groups, initia-tives, and trade associations with the opportunity to offer assurancesabout food authenticity, which enables the food to gain premium posi-tions in the marketplace. In Southwest Wales, the Pembrokeshire Pro-duce Mark is an instantly recognizable identity mark, currently used onfood and craft items, which informs customers that the produce or prod-uct has been made in the county of Pembrokeshire; hospitality estab-lishments displaying the logo use local food produce within their menusand retail outlets displaying the logo sell local produce. Before beingable to display the logo, all members of the scheme are verified to en-sure they are eligible and genuine and can then use the logo on all mar-keting material. The Pembrokeshire Produce Mark Scheme enables thelocal community and visitors, to identify local products (PembrokeshireCounty Council, 2005). Officially certified quality labels reassure con-


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sumers about techniques and methods used, as well as the production ofhigh quality food and drink products, thereby enhancing credibility oflocal products (Fotopoulos and Krystallis, 2003). However, visitorsgenerally have higher expectations about the quality and taste of foodproducts which they consider to be authentic–therefore producers needto develop and maintain their product and service quality.

THE MONMOUTHSHIRE STORY:PROJECT BACKGROUND

The research was commissioned by Adventa, Monmouthshire’sLeader � programme and funded by the European Agriculture andGuidance Fund, Welsh Assembly Government and MonmouthshireCounty Council. Adventa is a European initiative, focusing on three ar-eas: food; timber; tourism, who aim to encourage and support high qual-ity rural development, emphasizing co-operation and networking. Theirvision is for a strong, vibrant, self-reliant, and entrepreneurial ruralcounty that sensitively capitalises on its natural assets and delivershigh-quality value added products. Monmouthshire is one of ten unitaryauthorities in Southeast Wales, located where the borders of Wales andEngland meet. The county has a distinctly rural feel, has been shaped byinvasions and other historical events, and includes parts of the Wye Val-ley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that is famous for its role in thePicturesque movement of the eighteenth century, but less well knownfor its industrial heritage in the sixteenth century. In 2003, tourism gen-erated over £101 million for Monmouthshire (Monmouthshire CountyCouncil, 2003). Some of the main towns, for example, Abergavenny,are traditional market towns, having developed when the town ex-panded around the castle in the eleventh century. Hence, there is a reallegacy and history to the development of many places in Monmouth-shire.

The aim of the Sense of Monmouthshire project was to research anddevelop a Sense of Place training module for Monmouthshire. Withinthis, the objectives were to: develop the cultural identity of Monmouth-shire, in terms of its landscape, people, and heritage; give local tourismproviders the knowledge and skills necessary to celebrate the specialqualities of the area and communicate these to others; identify how tour-ism businesses can incorporate the unique Sense of Monmouthshire intotheir business practices to enhance the visitor experience and improvetheir business; raise awareness of Adventa’s aims; provide a local dimen-


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sion for the WTB’s Sense of Place toolkit; add value to the Welcome Hostcustomer care training programme and Welcome Host Monmouthshire.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A grounded theory approach was adopted for the research and devel-opment of a Sense of Monmouthshire training module. Strauss andCorbin (1998, p. 23) define grounded theory as a theory which is “dis-covered, developed and provisionally verified through systematic datacollection and analysis of data pertaining to that phenomenon.” Theresearch methodology consisted of primary and secondary researchmethods. Desk research was undertaken to align Sense of Monmouth-shire with various tourism, culture, and language strategies, as well as toreview of literature on Monmouthshire to gather information on itscultural and natural heritage. Key strategies reviewed include FreshDirections: Local Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan(Monmouthshire County Council, 2004a); Imagining the Future: a Cul-ture Strategy for Monmouthshire (Monmouthshire County Council,2004b); Action Plan for a Bilingual Wales (Welsh Assembly Govern-ment, 2003); Cultural Tourism Strategy for Wales (WTB, 2003); Tour-ism Strategy for South East Wales (Locum Destination Consulting,2003); Culture Strategy for Wales (Welsh Assembly Government,2002); and Achieving our Potential (WTB, 2000).

In addition to secondary research, in-depth convergent interviewswith key stakeholders representing the main agencies involved in tour-ism development in Monmouthshire were undertaken, including theRegional Tourism Partnership for Southeast Wales (Capital RegionTourism); the Wales Tourist Board (cultural tourism coordinator andSense of Place adviser); Monmouthshire County Council (departmentalrepresentatives from lifelong learning; arts and culture; tourism; coun-tryside and policy); Monmouthshire Blue Badge Tour Guides and Tour-ist Information Centre staff; Coleg Gwent; Countryside Council forWales; Churches Tourism Network Wales; Welsh Craft Council/BlackMountain Circle Craft Co-operative; Gwent History Project; Wye Val-ley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Monmouth EnterprisingWomen’s Network. Twenty in-depth interviews were undertaken, fromwhich data from each interview were analysed and used to refine thecontent of subsequent interviews. Convergence was facilitated by dis-carding information only mentioned by one interviewee and concen-trating on that repeated by more than one respondent (Dick, 1990). Eth-


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nography, in the form of participant observations, was also used toengage with and consume many of Monmouthshire’s products, experi-encing them from a visitor perspective, as well as to identify examplesof best practice. Locke (2001) cited in Gray (2004, p. 340) suggests thatgrounded theory has much in common with ethnography, as “datacollection and theory building are woven together as the researcherprogresses.” Similarly, convergent interviewing enabled the researchteam to actively construct data and theory, which led to the develop-ment of the Sense of Monmouthshire training module in a CD-ROMformat.

THE SENSE OF MONMOUTHSHIRE CD-ROM

The research team identified that the process of developing a Senseof Monmouthshire for tourism businesses should be about engaging,exploring, and explaining Monmouthshire’s cultural, physical, and nat-ural assets to visitors and extending these assets into their tourism busi-nesses by creating their own Sense of Monmouthshire. However, theresearch team also recognised that to engage tourism businesses, theprocess had to be enjoyable. Therefore, a CD-ROM explaining how in-dividual businesses could customise the themes identified was devel-oped rather than classroom-based approaches. The CD-ROM providestourism businesses with the flexibility to adopt and adapt any of theSense of Monmouthshire themes to their individual business.

The contents of each section of the CD-ROM are designed to give aflavour of Monmouthshire, not to provide a comprehensive history ofMonmouthshire, but to raise awareness amongst tourism businesses,capture the imagination and provide an appreciation of Monmouth-shire’s assets in terms of business benefits. The CD-ROM containsprompts to encourage tourism businesses to consider the differentthemes and how they might incorporate them; as well as suggestions forhow to start developing a Sense of Monmouthshire, such as settingobjectives; knowing your visitors and writing for them; thinking inthemes; ensuring the information and interpretation is accessible forvisitors and understood by all staff; action points for getting started andworking collaboratively to keep up to date with local events in Monmouth-shire, and to gain mutual benefits, such as producing local heritage,craft, ghost, or food trails, possibly linking into accommodation, retail,food, and drink outlets.


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The CD-ROM was initially piloted through a series of disseminationevents for Adventa and Monmouthshire County Council staff; Monmouth-shire Tourist Information Centre staff, Blue Badge Tour Guides, andrepresentatives from local tourism associations. These disseminationevents enabled feedback to be incorporated into the final CD-ROM. TheCD-ROM was disseminated to tourism businesses in Monmouthshirethrough a series of themed workshops organised by Adventa, supple-mented by expert-led learning journeys to various locations withinMonmouthshire. The CD-ROM emphasises that different themes willappeal to different people, so it is important to customise Sense ofMonmouthshire in a way that complements individual tourism busi-nesses to develop a USP and a memorable, enjoyable, and authentic ex-perience for visitors.

DEVELOPING A SENSE OF MONMOUTHSHIRETHROUGH LOCAL FOOD AND DRINK

There can be little doubt that Monmouthshire is completely represen-tative of a rural tourism destination with an agricultural heritage and assuch is almost completely devoid of the iconic backdrops often soughtby tourists. Nevertheless, this does not preclude Monmouthshire and itstourism businesses from creating a competitive, distinctive and high-quality tourism product that ensures a unique visitation experience assuggested by some interviewees:

We should not just sell a product, but also its provenance.

We need to emphasize the flavour of the location and teach localcommunities about our product.

Any sense of place is about thinking “outside the box” and addingpersonal touches to a localized product.

A number of themes emerged from the analysis of the convergent in-terviews and secondary data sources for the Sense of Monmouthshiretraining module, the aim being to raise awareness amongst existingtourism providers of the opportunity to create higher value and moresustainable forms of tourism by linking into distinct activities and inter-pretations. Although this paper concentrates on the food and drinktheme–Dining at Monmouthshire’s Great Table–the other themes in-


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clude The People of Monmouthshire; Working with the Welsh Lan-guage; Buildings of Monmouthshire; and Arts and Crafts and GreatOutdoors of Monmouthshire.

Dining at Monmouthshire’s Great Table: Food and Drink

This section of the Sense of Monmouthshire CD-ROM focuses onthe importance of using local produce, where tourism businesses andvisitors can find the best local produce and where visitors can be di-rected to menus that give a flavour of Monmouthshire–experiencingfood and drink that is true to its origins. Rural areas, such as Monmouth-shire, are closely associated with agriculture and food; hence it is appro-priate to promote rural identities through food and drink-related images,especially given the growth of gastronomy tourism:

The [Abergavenny] Food Festival has put Monmouthshire on the“foodie” map; providers can take advantage of this by incorporat-ing local produce in their menus and remembering to tell visitorsthat it is local. Traceability is increasingly important.

The Woodlands Restaurant in Llanvair Discoed in Monmouthshireoffers visitors a homely environment and fresh local produce. Theirproduce is definitely traceable, as they source their vegetables fromtheir next-door neighbours and they promote the local producers whoseproducts they use on their ever-changing blackboard-style menu.

Monmouthshire’s low rainfall and longer hours of sunshine make itsuitable for growing vines (Pressdee, 2005). Wine production datesback to Roman times and monasteries in the area are thought to havemonopolised viniculture during the medieval period, until the dissolu-tion of the monasteries in the sixteenth century (Adventa, 2005). Mon-mouthshire also has historical links with cider-making. Cider was thestaple drink of the agricultural workforce, but few farmers could afforddedicated cider mills, so in the late nineteenth century travelling cider-makers–specialist craftsmen–were familiar sights at farms in the ap-ple-growing areas of Wales, during Autumn and Winter. C. T. Morris,of Bryngwyn near Raglan in Monmouthshire, was a typical travellingcider-maker. His account book is interned in the Museum of Welsh Lifein Cardiff. He produced almost 350 gallons of cider at each farm in theperiod before the Second World War, with his round covering fortymiles in Monmouthshire, from Cwmyoy in the north, to Dingestow in


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the east and Nantyderi in the south (Williams-Davies, 1991). His re-corded payments are all in cash, reflecting the more commercial natureof farming in the wealthier lowlands of the Welsh border. Cider-makingin Wales declined due to a number of reasons: large, factory-based com-mercial cider manufacturers started to emerge; the size of the agricul-tural workforce declined and as they were the main consumers of cider,demand dropped; tastes changed as factory-produced cider was farmore refined than that of farmhouse cider; advertising campaigns bybrewers increased the consumption of beer; and the Agricultural WagesBoard and the introduction of overtime meant that farmers were lesskeen to subsidise their worker’s wages with cider (Williams-Davies,1991). Fortunately, cider making in Monmouthshire has undergone arevival. The Welsh Perry and Cider Society (Cymdeithas Perai a SeidrCymru) is an independent body of cider producers and enthusiasts,whose mission is to promote cider and cider making throughout Wales.The Society organises a range of activities and educational eventsthroughout the year, including the Welsh Perry and Cider Festival andWelsh Perry and Cider Championships, held annually in Monmouth-shire.

In addition, Monmouthshire’s drier climate of makes it suitable forgrowing grains and pulses, as well as vegetables and the Rivers Wyeand Usk are both good salmon rivers, although the latter is best-knownfor brown trout (Pressdee, 2005). Research by Groves (2001, p. 249)found that:

consumers also classed the existence of a relationship between aspecific region and a product as a traditional association. . . . If theproduct was made to the original or a traditional recipe . . . then thisled to more favourable opinions of the authenticity of the product.

The famous Lady Llanover published The First Principles of GoodCookery and Recipes in 1867, a 480-page cookery book including reci-pes for Welsh Toasted Cheese, Short Cakes of Gwent, and Welsh SaltDuck. The Abergavenny Food Festival was voted the greatest event inWales in the National Tourism Awards, 2003. Held annually over twodays in September, it includes a fish market, wine tasting, masterclasses, demonstrations, food tastings, talks, guided walks, and oppor-tunities to buy direct from local producers.

Hudman (1986, cited in Quan and Wang, 2004, p. 299) estimates thatup to 25% of total tourist expenditure is accounted for by food. The


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CD-ROM outlines the benefits of using local food and drink for visitors,tourism businesses, and the local community.

Visitors

• It’s fresher–which generally means that the quality is better. Yourvisitors will appreciate this–and they may be willing to pay morefor it!

• It’s linked to the locality and the land, so visitors will get a bettersense of the surrounding environment in Monmouthshire.

• It’s got traceability–visitors like finding out about this, especiallyyour links with local producers.

• If it’s good–they’ll come back!

Tourism Businesses

• If it’s good and they come back–you’ll get repeat business!• You’ll create something that is unique and distinctive, which visi-

tors may be willing to pay more for–adding to your profit margins!• You can demonstrate the importance of food and drink in your

tourism product.• Using local produce in your own individual style will differentiate

you from the others and give you a USP–which will definitely helpwhen it comes to word-of-mouth recommendations!

• Promoting local producers and suppliers will also help your USP.

Local Community

• Profiling local food producers will help them consider themselvesto be part of the tourism industry.

• Defining a Sense of Monmouthshire through locally producedfood and drink will help to connect the rurality of Monmouthshirewith its food-producing role.

• Promoting the use of locally produced food and drink to visitorswill enhance positive perceptions of food and drink in Monmouth-shire.

• Supporting local producers helps to build rapport within the localcommunity and will help to preserve the local landscapes by sup-porting local farmers and other food and drink producers.

• Encouraging restaurants, pubs, hotels and other accommodationproviders to use local produce and distinctive recipes, as well as


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promoting local produce through farmers’ markets, food trails,food festivals and farm shops, is an effective way of interpreting aSense of Monmouthshire.

CONCLUSIONS

The challenge for Adventa and tourism businesses in Monmouth-shire is to identify Monmouthshire and its businesses as distinct tourismproducts in a very crowded marketplace. The involvement of visitors inthe destination through the use of local food and drink; arts and craftsproducts ensures that the visitor does not remain an observer–outsidethe performance of culture–but actively helps to develop competitiveadvantage in Monmouthshire. Jamal and Hill (2004, p. 368) assert that“cultural and heritage areas come into being through the meaning-mak-ing activities of people interacting with objects, events and activitieswithin historically, politically and culturally defined destination areas.”Food and drink are important when selling the identity and culture of adestination, hence food consumption is integral to destination market-ing, as well as enabling local food and drink producers to add value totheir products by “creating a tourist experience around the raw materi-als” (Hjalager and Richards, 2002 cited in Quan and Wang, 2004,p. 299).

Local communities and businesses often forget that qualities whichmake up everyday life are often part of a holiday experience and can addvalue and enrich that experience for visitors. One interviewee said, “Weoften forget that Monmouthshire is as exotic to foreigners as the FarEast is to us.” Developing a Sense of Monmouthshire can help peopleidentify with the area and each other and create sensitive guardianshipof cultural history and the natural environment by inspiring and empow-ering local communities. A Sense of Monmouthshire defines identitythrough natural and man-made features and local produce, as well asdeveloping an improved awareness of the importance of tourism toMonmouthshire among local communities. Producing food and drink isnot the same as the production of other commodities–it is a locally andregionally embedded activity (Opie and Marsden, 2005). In order to bedeveloped sustainably, links between Monmouthshire and food, drink,history, arts, and crafts should be authentic and culturally embedded.Local food and drink is a fundamental aspect of creating a Sense ofMonmouthshire and providing visitors with a distinctive experience. Inaddition, local produce, recipes, and wines are effective ways of intro-


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ducing visitors to Monmouthshire’s rural economy. Therefore, gastro-nomic tourism and food festivals can be used as vehicles by which ruralfood and drink producers can add value to produce, as well as enhancingthe local identity of a destination and its local community.

Interpretation presents its own challenges, not least that it should bemore than the exchange of information, but should inspire and provokeinterest, as well as adopt different approaches aimed at different visitormarkets. Tourism businesses in Monmouthshire need to go beyond adescription of facts and tangible elements to creatively provide inter-pretation which conveys a deeper meaning and understanding of Mon-mouthshire’s local produce. Through an integrated and holistic approachto tourism development, which incorporates cultural distinctivenesswithin Monmouthshire’s economic development, a Sense of Monmouth-shire should help to extend the tourism season by spreading the volumeand value of tourism throughout the year; spread the benefits of tourismmore widely–geographically, socially and economically; enhance qual-ity and competitiveness; encourage innovation; and develop a sense ofcommunity. Ultimately, a Sense of Monmouthshire should enable tour-ism operators to utilise culture to innovate and differentiate their tour-ism business from their competitors. However, the product and Sense ofMonmouthshire needs to evolve, as “a destination’s sense of place is notone that is static and objective, but is one that is constructed, contestedand lived within a performative space” (Jamal and Hill, 2004, p. 359). Ifit fails to evolve and develop, it will become a staid product.

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TANG 2005 Using Local Food and Drink to Differentiate Tourism Destinations through a Sense of...

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