Food Tourism in India
Dissertation Proposal
1. Introduction
Working title
The role of food tourism in sustaining regional identity: A case study of Kerala, India.
Background
The theme of this project is to look at the role of food tourism in Kerala, India and in particular with reference to regional identity. There are two main questions that will need to be answered in order to understand this. Firstly is food important in sustaining the regional identity of Kerala and if so in what way. The secondary question is whether tourism affects or is affected by food within the region of Kerala, India.
Rationale
Food tourism is a growing sector of tourism however it remains on the “outer fringes of academic research” (Everett, 2008, p. 151). It is through the “inter-relationship between food, place and identity that food tourisms social and cultural impact can truly be explored” (Everett, 2008, p. 151-152). There have been studies of food within tourism but these have mainly been linked with marketing and economics. Everett (2008), in her case study of Cornwall, clearly identified that much more research was needed both nationally and internationally to look at the role of food tourism in sustaining regional identity. India is ranked in the top 40 countries worldwide in terms of tourism numbers. During 2010 there were 5.78 million foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) in India, resulting in $14.19 billion of foreign exchange earnings (FEE). Alongside this there were 740.21 million domestic tourist visits within the country (India Tourism Statistics 2012, Government of India, Ministry of Tourism). Therefore the tourism market in India is considerable but in the Indian Tourism Statistics 2010 there is no mention of food tourism. Therefore it raises the question of how important food tourism is and does food have any impact of tourism.
India is a very large country covering nearly 1.2 million square miles which is divided into 28 states and 7 unions, with a total population of
1. Introduction
Working title
The role of food tourism in sustaining regional identity: A case study of Kerala, India.
Background
The theme of this project is to look at the role of food tourism in Kerala, India and in particular with reference to regional identity. There are two main questions that will need to be answered in order to understand this. Firstly is food important in sustaining the regional identity of Kerala and if so in what way. The secondary question is whether tourism affects or is affected by food within the region of Kerala, India.
Rationale
Food tourism is a growing sector of tourism however it remains on the “outer fringes of academic research” (Everett, 2008, p. 151). It is through the “inter-relationship between food, place and identity that food tourisms social and cultural impact can truly be explored” (Everett, 2008, p. 151-152). There have been studies of food within tourism but these have mainly been linked with marketing and economics. Everett (2008), in her case study of Cornwall, clearly identified that much more research was needed both nationally and internationally to look at the role of food tourism in sustaining regional identity. India is ranked in the top 40 countries worldwide in terms of tourism numbers. During 2010 there were 5.78 million foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) in India, resulting in $14.19 billion of foreign exchange earnings (FEE). Alongside this there were 740.21 million domestic tourist visits within the country (India Tourism Statistics 2012, Government of India, Ministry of Tourism). Therefore the tourism market in India is considerable but in the Indian Tourism Statistics 2010 there is no mention of food tourism. Therefore it raises the question of how important food tourism is and does food have any impact of tourism.
India is a very large country covering nearly 1.2 million square miles which is divided into 28 states and 7 unions, with a total population of
References: *Bessiere, Jacinthe (1998): Local Development and Heritage: Traditional Food Cuisine as Tourist Attractions in Rural Areas in Sociologia Ruralis 38:1, 21-34 Bramwell, B *Everett, Sally (2008): Beyond the Visual Gaze: The Pursuit of an embodied experience through food tourism in Tourist Studies 2008 Vol. 8, 337-358 Hall Hall, C.M and Mitchell, R. (2000) We are what we eat: Food, tourism and globalization in Tourism Culture and Communication 2, 29-37 Hjalager, A *Sebastian, Leena Mary & Rajagopalan, Prema (2009): Socio-cultural transformations through tourism: a comparison of residents perspectives at two destinations in Kerala, India, in Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, 7:1, 5-21 *Sims, Rebecca (2009): Food, place and authenticity: local food and the sustainable tourism experience, in Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 17:3, 321-336