Chapter 4: The Rural Food Tourist

Agriculture emerges as a prerequisite for food tourism, and landscapes and lifestyles portray the traditions of rural people, places, and practices. This chapter explores the rural food tourist as a type of tourist who appreciates and values the authenticity and identity of food and beverage products based on their origin. The chapter analyses the relation between online marketing and the cheese tourist. Social media is increasingly regarded as a source of tourism information, and its use as a communication and marketing tool is crucial both at business and destination levels. In this sense, the digital presence of rural assets such as food is a significant way to promote destination identity to tourists. This chapter reviews the digital presence of 28 Spanish cheeses with Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indications (PDI) labels. The chapter explores digital content as a source of information and knowledge for the rural food tourist.