Quality oriented services marketing for eno-gastronomy areas. Findings from a survey of local actors in the Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano

The aim of the study is to investigate the issue of Quality (Gronroos, 2002, Rust, Oliver, 1994) in eno-gastronomy tourism areas from a competitive advantage perspective (Gallucci, Marino, Mainolfi, 2008). Our research, an exploratory study involves the key actors (agro-tourism farms, manufacturers/producers of typical products and institutional stakeholders) in territories characterized by a strong eno-gastronomy vocation such as the Parco Nazionale del Cilento. We argue that lasting and sustainable competitive advantage in a territory with a tradition of eno-gastronomy, depends on the capacity both of local governing boards to manage complex and intricate functions of integration and coordination, and at the same time, of individual operators to comply with the standards of quality delineated in a theoretical model framework. In other words, to package experiential tourism products designed by actors inside and outside a specific destination, guided by market driven logics. A further aim is to identify specific actions (best practices) for cooperation at destination level (value design) and in the value co-creation phase (Pencarelli, Splendiani, 2008). In particular, from a dual perspective, on the one hand, value created “for” and “with” tourists of eno-gastronomy areas, beneficiaries and creators of the tourist experience, by activating a mix of tools to spread tangible and intangible benefits (psychological, social, emotional) and to minimize costs deriving from client-relation activities, andon the other, “for” the area, i.e. rejecting logics pivoted on mere conservation and protection of resources and based rather, on the modern logics of enhancing destination heritage (Della Corte, 2009). KEY WORDS Quality | Destination Management | Tourism Marketing.