Olive oil tourism: Promoting rural development in Andalusia (Spain)

Abstract

Foods with certificates of quality are gaining more and more relevance in people’s diets. Every day there is more of a demand to visit production facilities, to learn how food products are elaborated and to sample them. These products include olive oil, a typical product from Andalusia (southern Spain). This study aims to analyze what olive oil tourism has to offer in this region. A survey was conducted on companies on the olive-oil gastronomic route and their designations of origin in order to determine their degree of involvement in the development of the tourism product of “olive oil tourism”. The main contribution of this study is that is the first to analyze several olive-oil Designations of Origin from all of Andalusia, looking for the synergies with other gastronomic routes in the region, which could increase visitors’ demands and also the level of development and wealth in the area.