Transition to a Sustainable Economy

A Scoping Review of Literature Focused on Sustainable Gastronomy

Resumo

The economic sustainability of destinations has become an evolving topic, specifically in the gastronomic tourism sector where new strategies are being called to make the sector more competitive and sustainable through the proposal of models for transitioning to a sustainable economy, supported by eco-friendly production and consumption. Despite the increasing interest in the topic, there is a scarcity of synthesis studies mapping research in sustainable gastronomy tourism, particularly regarding conceptualization, construct denominations, and fundamental factors for transitioning to a sustainable economy. The objective of this study is to map the literature on sustainable gastronomic tourism and to identify the factors of gastronomic tourism that may condition the transition to a sustainable economy. This is achieved through a scoping review of the literature, supplemented with a bibliometric study. Gastronomic tourism stands out as a crucial sector for transitioning to more sustainable economies by promoting low impact consumption and production and contributing to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The analysis undertaken allowed to conclude that the topic is increasingly capturing the interest of academia, although the current state of the literature is characterized by a reduced heterogeneity in research methods and that studies are predominantly focused on food production, accommodation and food and wine tourism, with a lack of studies involving other typologies of tourism. Avenues for future research are identified as well as the limitations of the current study.