A Case Study of a Culinary Tourism Campaign in Germany

“A Case Study of a Culinary Tourism Campaign in Germany: Implications for Strategy Making and Successful Implementation” was published by Michael C. Ottenbacher, Heilbronn University, and Robert J. Harrington, University of Arkansas, in OnlineFirst on July 18th, 2011 in the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research. Dr. Ottenbacher kindly provided the following thoughts on the article.

Who is the target audience for this article?

Academics, students, and practitioners with a focus of hospitality and tourism management

What inspired you to be interested in this topic?

–          Personal interest of the authors in the topic of culinary tourism

–          Lack of research in culinary tourism

–          In the last few years, culinary tourism has experienced significant growth within the tourism industry

Were there findings that were surprising to you?

There appears to be substantial differences in what participants view as “what is” versus “what should be” for culinary tourism initiative success This case study provides some interesting findings tied to the notion of the strategic process and how these theoretical concepts of strategy are applied to a culinary tourism situation.  While the longstanding academic debate between the planning and learning approaches to the strategic management has merit for leadership, one of the potential downsides of allowing strategies emerge over time (learning approach) is the negative perception by regional “followers”. The development and implementation of this regionally-driven process provides support for the impact of having a clearly defined strategy and the need for cooperation among stakeholders in its development.  This approach appears to support the integrative strategic approach integrating strategy formulation and implementation as an iterative process for culinary tourism strategy development.

How Do You See This Study Influencing Future Research and/or Practice?

The objective of this case study is to explore the key issues in the strategy-making process and implementation of a culinary tourism campaign in a region that has recently implemented a culinary tourism strategy and promotion.  The study highlights several issues for other regions wishing to develop a culinary tourism strategy and successfully implement the initiative.

How does this study fit into your body of work/line of research?

Both authors teach, research and publish in the areas of hospitality and tourism management, strategic management and culinary.   

How did your paper change during the review process? 

The reviewers provided constructive feedback and thus there were additions in the methodology section and mainly changes in the literature and discussion parts.