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Background

Rising out of the ashes of half a century lasting socialist regime, Slovenia after it got its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, was facing a period of transition in both the economic system, as well as in socio-cultural values. The transitional processes somehow coincided in the temporal perspective with the general acceptance of the concept of sustainable development as defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission) Report entitled “Our Common Future” in 1987, which described sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”(WCDE, 1987, quoted in Murphy & Price, 2005: 189). Simultaneously, the concept of sustainable tourism development arose out of recognition of both the economic importance of tourism, as well as its realized and potential impacts (Berno & Bricker, 2001). Although the concept tends to be discussed with respect to the physical environment, definitions of sustainable tourism, such as the one by Inskeep (1991, quoted in Mihalic, 2006: 73) or the more recent one developed by the UNWTO (2004, quoted in Andereck et al: 484) also include the social and cultural environment of destinations (Andereck et al: 483). It is within these two environments, as Haukenland & Jacobsen argue (2001), that the concept of sustainable tourism has contributed to the increased interest in the employment of local resources in tourism development. Furthermore, with respect to food and beverages, the prevalent attitude is that as much as possible should be obtained locally …