**4. Conclusions**

This study demonstrates the significance assumed over the last decades by the world revolving around food. Food highlights how feeding choices, in the current society, not only derived from economic conditions, but also that reflect political and social choices, are oriented by themes such as quality, authenticity, as well as sustainability. Relationship between food and territory has developed very quickly, and this new food culture has also enhanced the emergence of gastronomic tourism. Territories are today very aware of the significance of their gastronomic potential, primarily based on tourism: tourists prefer to buy and consume local food while at the same time observing and participating in its production process, by increasingly considering it as the main reason for moving or, at least, as one of the most important activities that characterize their trip.

A new tourist demand has emerged, which identifies in the typical product an element capable of combining the authenticity and specificity of a territory with its knowledge and the experience of its tasting. The tasting of the gastronomy and the knowledge of the production processes of local agri-food typicality has started indeed being considered tourist practices that allow travelers to get in touch with a heritage consisting in local history, typicality, lifestyles, and traditions.

From this work, we also derive important considerations regarding the relationship among food, rural areas, and tourism: promotion of local food can contribute to rural area development and socioeconomic well-being also through the growth of a gastronomic tourism hinged on the link with the territory, on local cuisine, as well as on the culture from which it originates.

Furthermore, this chapter stresses the value of resources and tourist services, which are developing around local products, especially promotion and knowledge paths such as the roads of wine, oil and flavors, as well as the installation of dedicated museums and the organization of festivals and events. Italian territories are increasingly characterized as foodscape, and the relationship between gastronomy and tourism is increasingly tied to the dynamics of local development as well as to the enhancement of landscape as an expression of all its identity elements, including food.

Food and culture of the territory connected to it thus form an ideal harmony for tourists and for the inhabitants who express their interest not only for the gastronomic product itself, but also for all the aspects that characterize the landscape, its history, and the cultural base. The attention to food is increasingly characterized by sociocultural, political, and economic elements that are contributing to the affirmation of the concept of food districts, as a vehicle not only of tradition and memory but also of agricultural landscapes that represent not only the complexity of production, but also the conservation and enhancement of local productions, especially in rural areas. The protection of local food production can thus contribute to the socioeconomic development of rural territories by networking the resources and skills present in them, through strategic actions that activate

**159**

**Author details**

provided the original work is properly cited.

*Rural Tourism and Territorial Development in Italy DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85774*

tourists but also for the local community.

community.

sustainable processes of value creation not only for tourists but also for of the local

Food and culture of a territory represent an ideal balance for both its tourists and inhabitants who are interested not only in the gastronomic product itself, but also in its relation with landscape, including landscape history and cultural heritage. Attention for food is increasingly marked by sociocultural, political as well as economic elements, all contributing to designing the new concept of "food districts," meant as a vehicle of tradition and memory. Especially, these new trends emphasized the significance of agricultural landscapes able to convey the idea of the complexity of the production process, along with those of preservation and enhancement of local productions, especially in rural areas. Safeguarding local food production can thus contribute to the socioeconomic development of rural territories by networking their resources and skills through the implementation of strategic actions able to activate sustainable value chain interesting not only for

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

Manuel Vaquero Piñeiro, Paola de Salvo\* and Francesca Giommi Department of Political Science, University of Perugia, Italy

\*Address all correspondence to: paola.desalvo@unipg.it

*Rural Tourism and Territorial Development in Italy DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85774*

*Sustainability Assessment at the 21st Century*

**4. Conclusions**

not only for tourists but also for the local community.

tant activities that characterize their trip.

as on the culture from which it originates.

characterized by sociocultural, political, and economic elements that are contributing to the affirmation of the concept of food of the territory, foodscape, not only as a vehicle of tradition and memory but also as a food landscape, which represents not only the complexity of production, but also of the conservation and enhancement of local productions [50]. In conclusion, olive oil tourism can contribute to the local development of rural territories with the networking of local resources and skills, through a participatory project that activates sustainable processes of value creation

This study demonstrates the significance assumed over the last decades by the world revolving around food. Food highlights how feeding choices, in the current society, not only derived from economic conditions, but also that reflect political and social choices, are oriented by themes such as quality, authenticity, as well as sustainability. Relationship between food and territory has developed very quickly, and this new food culture has also enhanced the emergence of gastronomic tourism. Territories are today very aware of the significance of their gastronomic potential, primarily based on tourism: tourists prefer to buy and consume local food while at the same time observing and participating in its production process, by increasingly considering it as the main reason for moving or, at least, as one of the most impor-

A new tourist demand has emerged, which identifies in the typical product an element capable of combining the authenticity and specificity of a territory with its knowledge and the experience of its tasting. The tasting of the gastronomy and the knowledge of the production processes of local agri-food typicality has started indeed being considered tourist practices that allow travelers to get in touch with a

From this work, we also derive important considerations regarding the relationship among food, rural areas, and tourism: promotion of local food can contribute to rural area development and socioeconomic well-being also through the growth of a gastronomic tourism hinged on the link with the territory, on local cuisine, as well

Furthermore, this chapter stresses the value of resources and tourist services, which are developing around local products, especially promotion and knowledge paths such as the roads of wine, oil and flavors, as well as the installation of dedicated museums and the organization of festivals and events. Italian territories are increasingly characterized as foodscape, and the relationship between gastronomy and tourism is increasingly tied to the dynamics of local development as well as to the enhancement of landscape as an expression of all its identity elements, includ-

Food and culture of the territory connected to it thus form an ideal harmony for tourists and for the inhabitants who express their interest not only for the gastronomic product itself, but also for all the aspects that characterize the landscape, its history, and the cultural base. The attention to food is increasingly characterized by sociocultural, political, and economic elements that are contributing to the affirmation of the concept of food districts, as a vehicle not only of tradition and memory but also of agricultural landscapes that represent not only the complexity of production, but also the conservation and enhancement of local productions, especially in rural areas. The protection of local food production can thus contribute to the socioeconomic development of rural territories by networking the resources and skills present in them, through strategic actions that activate

heritage consisting in local history, typicality, lifestyles, and traditions.

**158**

ing food.

sustainable processes of value creation not only for tourists but also for of the local community.

Food and culture of a territory represent an ideal balance for both its tourists and inhabitants who are interested not only in the gastronomic product itself, but also in its relation with landscape, including landscape history and cultural heritage. Attention for food is increasingly marked by sociocultural, political as well as economic elements, all contributing to designing the new concept of "food districts," meant as a vehicle of tradition and memory. Especially, these new trends emphasized the significance of agricultural landscapes able to convey the idea of the complexity of the production process, along with those of preservation and enhancement of local productions, especially in rural areas. Safeguarding local food production can thus contribute to the socioeconomic development of rural territories by networking their resources and skills through the implementation of strategic actions able to activate sustainable value chain interesting not only for tourists but also for the local community.
