Ethical food as a differentiation factor for tourist destinations: The case of “Slow Food”

In recent years, the topic of ethical food has assumed increasing importance in international academic debate. Despite there being some studies carried out on this topic, there is limited literature on the role ethical food plays in the tourism sector and, specifically, in tourist destination attractiveness. This paper explores how ethical food can be a driver of destination attractiveness and how it is possible to take advantage of this issue for particular tourist destinations. In this paper, ethical food as a destination attraction is explained through the case of Slow Food. Results show that ethical food has a very important role to play in the future of destination attractiveness thanks to special events and projects concerning ethical food, which also contribute to the sustainability of a destination. Finally, strategies to exploit the potential of this ethical food so as to develop tourist destination attractiveness are drawn.