Gastronomic Tourism as a way of Social Innovation - the local cuisine valorization in the hotels’ restaurants from Fortaleza, Ceará

Abstract

The traditional gastronomy has increasingly emerged as a tourism product, this is a result of several factors, such as the gastronomic heritage recognition, world awareness about food nutritional issues (health and wellness), local products higher appreciation, opposed to the effects left by globalization (e.g., fast food) and the food industry. Under this optics, the relationship between tourism and gastronomy was strengthened, not only by the food nutritional dimension, because every tourist simply needs to eat, but specially motivated by a cultural dimension. Gastronomy is now recognized as a direct access route from one human to the other. Therefore, the article examines this relationship between tourism and gastronomy from the process of local cuisine appreciation in the hotels’ restaurants from Ceará/Brazil, places where many visitors usually have their first contact with local cuisine. Through interviews, applied to hotels cuisine chefs in Fortaleza - Ceará, we have identified how these professionals participate in the local gastronomy destination promotion, affirmation and appreciation, contributing directly to invigorate a social innovation, through the traditional inputs consumption, as well as the gastronomic identity affirmation from Ceará.