Abstract
Purpose: Meat overconsumption by tourists is one of the key issues in the sustainability of tourist destinations. The objective of this paper is to assess the impact that a promotion of meatless gastronomy and its actual increased availability would have on the attractiveness and visitation of a popular European urban destination.
Design: The research uses an innovative foresight approach that combines Environmental Scanning and Scenarios. We formulated our scenarios using the Delphi technique and working with 27 scholars whose insights into the topic were enhanced through theses that resulted from the Environmental Scanning. They provided their insights into how a promotion of meatless gastronomy would affect a destination. Subsequently, we synthetised their insights and formulated the scenarios.
Findings: Based on two defined scenarios, we found that a meatless image represents an opportunity for the future development of an urban European destination. A long-term growth in visitor numbers can be achieved while ensuring environmental, economic and socio-cultural sustainability providing that relevant stakeholders are involved in the promotional activities.
Originality: Management of tourists' unsustainable eating habits is currently an unexplored issue. The present research addresses this topic and provides valuable insights that will help to address sustainability issues while making tourism destinations more attractive.