The sustainability of food tourism for small enterprises: Conditions, challenges, and opportunities

This chapter delineates the conditions, challenges and opportunities for the sustainability of smallentrepreneurial firms involved in local food tourism. It raises awareness on how these businessescan enhance their competitiveness in this market. It puts forward an analytical framework that isbased on the economic, social, environmental and cultural sustainability of small local foodtourism entrepreneurs in Swedish, Italian and Spanish contexts. This research implies that thefinancial sustainability of these small enterprises is contributing to local economic growth andemployment in their country. From the social sustainability aspect these tourism businesses areintrinsically linked to local communities. Their responsible practices are meant to safeguard theenvironmental sustainability as well as the preservation of their local culture and heritage. At the same time, they enable them to add value to their destination’s cultural sustainability.