Co-creation of Gastronomic Tourism Experiences Saborea España

Saborea España is the brand for Spanish gastronomic tourism, comprising the Spanish Hospitality Business Organization, the Federation of Spanish Chefs and Pastry Chefs Associations (FACYRE), the European Chefs Organization (Euro-Toques), the Spanish Association of Destinations for the Promotion of Gastronomic Tourism, and Paradores de Turismo. It has the institutional support of Turespaña (Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Tourism).

The project, carried out in the period 2024-2025 as part of the framework project “Gastronomic Experiences with the Primary Sector,” identifies the following objectives for all destinations in the Saborea España network:

• Contribute to the creation of ETG gastronomic tourism experiences to develop a portfolio of offerings with marketing potential.
• Promote networking to encourage the design of tourism experiences that reinforce their differentiation through the gastronomic value proposition.
• Activate collaboration and integration into the tourism economy of the different actors that form part of the value chain of the primary food sector, reinforcing gastronomic identity and using it as a basis for tourism differentiation and diversification.
• Strengthen the capacities of the different actors through specific training on innovation and experience creation, and competitiveness.

To carry out this project, Pax# designed a half-day training workshop format that was implemented in 17 of the 26 Saborea España destinations. The content of the session was structured around the premises of a competitive economic tourism market, resulting in a 12-step training methodology focused on competitiveness, on which activities were developed to:

1. Identify the market opportunity context for gastronomic tourism.
2. Prioritize demand segments based on the hyper-segmentation of visitor personas.
3. Endorse the strengths of the destination based on gastronomic elements (agri-food products, processed products, recipes) with the greatest potential to attract tourists in order to create experiences.
4. Encourage cooperation among all destination stakeholders involved in the gastronomic production chain, from the primary sector to the provision of experiences to tourists/visitors (> 16 different types of entities and organizations identified).
5. Design and present experiences based on cooperation and differentiation in a co-creation process.

Among the key potential profiles to consider for the session, the following stood out: small and large agricultural producers, catering companies and/or hotels, intermediaries specializing in gastronomic tourism, public tourism managers of the destination, public managers of local markets, tour guides specializing in the destination and local gastronomy, organizers of gastronomic conferences and events in the destination, associations and cooperatives of local producers, museums and centers interpreting the gastronomic value of the destination, and merchant associations, among others.

The workshops were held simultaneously by three expert consultants from the Pax# team in the following locations: A Coruña, Badajoz, Burgos, Ciudad Real, Cullera, Denia, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Palma, Lanzarote, Oviedo, Segovia, Seville, Talavera de la Reina, Tudela, Valladolid, and Vinaròs.

The project “Creation of Gastronomic Tourism Experiences: Taste Spain” enabled:

1. Encourage collaboration and generate synergies by promoting connections between key players in the tourism and gastronomy sector, fostering strategic alliances in the destinations of the Saborea España Network.
2. Design authentic experiences by generating innovative proposals that combine gastronomy, culture, and heritage in a sustainable way, while reinforcing the gastronomic identity, uniqueness, and differentiation of the destinations.
3. Build from a market-oriented and profitability framework, so that the experiences designed can potentially be marketed through agencies, tour operators, and digital platforms, and facilitate international visibility and positioning through Saborea España.
4. Promote local impact and sustainability based on the principles of the circular economy and regeneration, supporting local producers and ensuring responsible and differentiated experiences.