Eating is a physical necessity, but catering services and food image are also very important ingredients of cultural tourism. Food and tourism are increasingly being combined, e.g. in agri‐tourism, wine tours and the sale of food products as souvenirs. However, as this paper illustrates, the development and standards of food for tourists are not determined uniformly by tourism policies, but more significantly by national economic, agricultural and food policies. A comparison between Denmark and Italy illustrates core elements in food cultures. Particularly in Denmark, food production is a major economic activity, and the power of the agricultural and food processing industries has in many cases compromised the quality image. In Italy, on the other hand, food policies and traditions, which give a high priority to freshness, intrinsically allow consumers to stay in control of food to a much larger extent than in Denmark. In both countries, a concentration of tourists in space and time tends to result in a decline of food profile. The paper concludes that only residents are in a position to put a more permanent pressure on food suppliers, and only if they are given the appropriate instruments. Further improvement of the food heritage in both countries (but especially in Denmark) will have to include a reconsideration, and probably changes, in food policies in more global terms. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Successful destination branding strategies require the commitment and mobilization of internal stakeholders in order to reinforce the communication of the brand message to the tourist market. To this purpose, the literature suggests that adopting an inclusive and participative approach to the branding process can increase and maintain the stakeholders’ willingness to share the brand mission. However, the results of such sharing and involvement strategies in terms of internal brand equity creation are still under research. In order to fill such a gap, the article proposes to build on the established consumer-based brand equity model for assessing the internal stakeholder-based brand equity of tourist destinations. The model, comprising four dimensions – brand awareness, image, commitment, and satisfaction/loyalty – is then applied to the analysis of South Tyrol’s (Italy) regional branding strategy, through a survey of internal brand users. Findings confirm the importance of a participative approach to the branding process in order to enhance its overall internal equity. Findings also show a relevant information gap regarding brand performance that impacts the stakeholders’ commitment. This confirms the link between the internal and external performance of destination brands. Moreover, significant differences in the levels of brand awareness, commitment, and satisfaction among different categories of stakeholders suggest that the brand authorities should enact targeted internal communication efforts.

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Purpose: This paper aims at evaluating the online presence of Italian destination management organizations (DMOs) by assessing the quality of their websites through a demand-side heuristic approach. Moreover, given the importance of a clear strategic vision for an efficient and effective use of online media, the paper examines the alignment between tourism development plans and practical implementation for what regards ICTs. Finally, the possible impact of the adoption of a strategic approach on the overall quality of the websites under investigation is explored.Design/methodology/approach: A double analysis was conducted. An assessment of the main quality features of the official tourism websites and an evaluation of the statements of Public Authorities concerning strategic intentions and guidelines for developing ICT instruments. The two evaluations are compared in order to examine their relationships. A strategic matrix of the technological performance and attitude of Italian regional authorities is proposed.Findings: The quality of the Italian DMOs' websites is satisfactory, on average. Weaknesses are found in the offer of interactive services and Web 2.0 functions. Moreover, an improvement in the user evaluations with respect to the past demonstrates the attention given to ICTs by the DMOs. As a matter of fact, the strategic plans examined deal, in general, relatively well with ICT issues, while it is also shown that poor strategic vision, as expressed in the promotional plans, is related to poor performance of some websites.Originality/value: The paper assesses the quality of Italian DMOs' websites quality as perceived by visitors and, for the first time, relates the evaluations to how ICT strategic plans deal with the issue.