Local Cuisine in a Tourist City: Food Identity in Sarajevo Restaurant Menus as a Source of Destination Marketing

Abstract

Food conveys the sense of a place, and it encapsulates both the natural and cultural meanings that locals attach to their culinary heritages. Food tourism contributes to the sustainable development of destinations because food-based activities are part of sustainable tourism practices. Sarajevo is becoming an increasingly popular gastronomic destination. The purpose of this research is to analyse the food image of the city of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a relevant issue for food tourism sustainable development in urban environments. To achieve it, this resear ch understands restaurants as a food tourism attraction. To analyse how a destination promotes food identity, this article draws from a content analysis of 16 menus from restaurants located in the four municipalities of the city of Sarajevo. Results rev eal to what extent local restaurants offer menus based on local foods and drinks that represent Bosnian-Herzegovinian cuisine. In particul ar, the research contributes to understanding food tourism in cities, and how restaurants can be crucial in developing and promoting sustainable tourism.

Destination Restaurants’ Practices and the Production of Locality: The Case of Michelin Restaurants in China

“…For theoretical contributions, this study comprehensively understands the way in which notions of locality and place are used by destination restaurants and the way in which this may promote not only restaurants but also culinary culture and destination attractiveness. Considering destination restaurants as an attraction of the local place, this study provides insights into how destination restaurants contribute to the local economy, environment, community, and culinary culture, which would further be beneficial to the destinations in terms of place reputation, place branding, and placemaking [ 9 , 10 , 132 ]. This study also implies practical contributions for restaurant managers and destination planners.…”

“…Within this perspective, some destination restaurants may be ‘ambassadors’ that promote place and locality [ 3 , 4 ], and some of them, namely ‘terroir restaurants’, have indeed gained market recognition and received many honours [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. As a result, destination restaurants could be considered as a representation of the local culture, a counter to the homogenisation of cuisine by globalising forces [ 8 ], and a source of destination marketing [ 9 ]. Locality promoted in destination restaurants is therefore potentially a significant form of local cultural capital that strengthens a sense of place, place and product differentiation, and place branding in a globalised world [ 10 , 11 , 12 ].…”

The ‘place’ and the ‘otherness’ through the eyes of a restaurantscape

“…In particular, the paper 10.48119/toleho.1382017 analyses how global and local influences shape the city's food scene and adds to the understanding of the relationship between place and food (Coulson & Sonnino, 2019;Edwards et al, 2021). The focus on the restaurantscape in the city center informs about the contribution of food establishments to the overall urban experience (Čaušević & Fusté-Forné, 2022;Hernández-Rojas & Huete-Alcocer, 2021). In this sense, the novelty of the paper relies on the analysis of the (dis)connection between place and food and whether the local food scene is reflective of the regional's identity or if there are elements that create a sense of detachment, which in turn suggests the influence of culinary diversity on the city's character and as a potential attraction for food tourism.…”