Promotion of Food Tourism on Websites of Tourist Offices: Cross-content Analyses of Helsinki, Copenhagen, and Lyon.

Abstract

This paper will compare Helsinki to Copenhagen and Lyon concerning food tourism, as it is forecasted to be one of hot consumption trends in tourism for the next decades. The paper will answer four questions: Firstly, what are the current statuses of food as an attraction in Helsinki, Copenhagen and Lyon? Secondly, what are Helsinki’s unique selling points (USPs) to be made visible on the website to attract culinary tourists? Thirdly, what lessons can be learnt from Copenhagen and Lyon’s websites (two famous cities when it comes to culinary tourism) in promoting the cities’ cuisines and eating cultures. As the paper will argue, by taking good use of official tourism website as a main com-munication channel, Helsinki can create and project the city’s image as a destination for food tourism. As a result, a framework for promotion will be constructed and pre-sented as a guideline to improve food tourism’s visibility on Helsinki’s official tourist website. The paper will conclude that food plays an important role in destination marketing as it reflects attractiveness as well as the culture of a city. Research findings can be of benefit in developing marketing strategies, and more importantly in creating a unique brand for Helsinki. Last but not least, food tourism branding and mobile application are also merely discussed and suggested for further research.