A guest in Dalmatia does not look for an international menu. He looks for Dalmatia.

Although for the purposes of this article I could have put a title like: “It's amazing what a British and German couple ordered at a Dalmatian tavern”, in today's attention economy, clicks would probably skyrocket. But HrTurizam has never lived, nor does it want to live, from superficial clicks and reach, but from a professional public that takes tourism seriously.

That's why I decided to ask a much more important question: what does a seemingly ordinary situation at the next table tell us about the market, destination identity, and the meaning of local gastronomy in tourism?

The best insights about tourism do not come from surveys, panel discussions or strategic documents. They come from real situations that at first seem completely unimportant. Let's say like at the next table in a tavern.

However, the best insights into tourism always come from the field and from personal experience. This is precisely why I believe that tourism professionals should travel as much as possible and be guests themselves in destinations, both domestic and foreign. It is only when you sit on the other side of the table, when you become a guest yourself, that you begin to notice details that often do not make it into tables, strategies and presentations.

Related to this story, my moment happened the day after the project was presented. Authentic in Makarska, as part of a broader initiative by the Split-Dalmatia County that is trying to return local gastronomy to where it naturally belongs: in restaurants, taverns and the everyday life of the destination.

I've been there before. wrote several times How is the project? Dalmatian brunch one of the most important strategic destination projects in Croatia. Not because it is another gastronomic project, label or tourist product. Events are great, but the problem arises when everything remains just at the event, one weekend or one day.

The point of the story is always system and long-term development, and that key role is played by business processes, management and strategic development of the destination.

The greatest value of this initiative is precisely that it does not try to invent something new or, worse, copy others, but rather to return the focus to what Dalmatia has always been: local gastronomy as one of the foundations of tourist identity.

Dalmatian brunch cannot be branded. If we don't live it, we locals will. Because tourism is added value. 

/ / / The local community and local guests are the key: brunch only lives if we live it too

Because authenticity does not arise when we give it a logo, label, slogan or promotional campaign. It exists or it doesn't exist. And if it exists, then it must live in the everyday life of the local community before it becomes a tourist story.

The motive for this article was Dalmatian pasticada. And I am quite sure that it is directly related to the Dalmatian Brunch project, although I have no concrete proof of that.

The day after Autentica in Makarska, my wife and I were sitting in a renovated family tavern in Brela run by two brothers. The story of a grandfather's house that they turned into a top-notch tavern. It couldn't be better. By top-notch tavern, I mean exactly what a tavern should be: stone, wood, Dalmatian music, local gastronomy, sea fish, top-notch service and local workforce.

It's also interesting how we found the tavern.

We walked along the coast to the end of the promenade in Brela, then decided to return via the upper part of the town so as not to take the same route. With a view of the sea, olive groves and the road that winds above the coast, we quite by chance saw a renovated stone tavern.

At the tables next to us were two young couples who had arrived about half an hour after us. I would say they were in their 30s. One spoke German, the other English. From the accents I would say they were from the UK, in fact I'm almost certain, because British English is hard to miss.

And then a situation happened that genuinely delighted and pleasantly surprised me. A detail that at first seems unimportant, but actually reveals a much broader story about what the market today demands from a destination.

Both tables ordered Dalmatian pasticada.

It is a fascinating fact that a foreign guest not only does he know what is Dalmatian pašticada, but it actively searching in a restaurant. It's no longer a coincidence. This is a market signal that guests are actively looking for local gastronomy and that the market reacts very concretely to such an offer.

And this is where we come to an interesting paradox. While we are still debating whether local gastronomy should be the basis of the tourist offer, the market has clearly already resolved this dilemma.

A guest doesn't come to Dalmatia for an international menu. They come for Dalmatia. Just like we do when we travel to other countries. 

For years we have been talking about authenticity, local products, storytelling, experiential tourism and the need for differentiation. Panels are organized, strategies are drawn up and action plans are written, but at the same time we often forget to ask the simplest question: What is the guest actually looking for when they come to the destination, i.e. more importantly, what do we offer them?

Because we don't sell accommodation to the guest. We sell a way of life, the culture of the space, the identity and the sense of place. This is precisely the strongest differentiation and what we call premium tourism today.

What is our tourism product besides the sun, the sea and incredible natural resources? Why would a guest choose Croatia and not Greece, Italy or France? Why would a guest from England look for fish and chips in Croatia or a guest from France drink French wines? They already have that at home. The point of travel is to discover something new - Croatian wines, local flavours and the culture of the area.

Because people don't travel thousands of kilometers away to eat the same food they eat at home. They travel to experience a new place, a new culture, and a new way of life.

That's why gastronomy has never been just a matter of food. It is one of the most important communication tools of a destination's identity. Through gastronomy, we get to know the space, habits, rhythm of life and culture of the local community. And when we lose local gastronomy, we don't just lose dishes. We lose part of the destination's identity.

Of course, this does not mean that restaurants have to look like they did fifty years ago, nor that there should be no contemporary interpretation. Quite the contrary. Every chef can and should give their own signature, their own interpretation, and their own contemporary approach. Tourism and gastronomy are living organisms and develop naturally. But the question of the base remains crucial.

The base must be domestic.

We can have international dishes, fusion cuisine and creative concepts, but a restaurant that holds its own, especially in a destination that builds its identity on local authenticity, must have a local base.

A few dishes that carry the character of the area they are in. Because if a guest in Dalmatia cannot find Dalmatia on their plate, like Dalmatian pašticada, then the question legitimately arises as to what we are actually selling them. And what is the point of tourism in the first place.

Perhaps that is why the whole story surrounding the Dalmatian Brunch is more important than it first seems. Not only because of the gastronomy itself, but because it opens up much broader questions: destination identity, connecting short supply chains, domestic production, local family farms, the quality of the tourist product and ultimately added-value tourism.

And that's exactly why it needs to be made clear: these are the only projects that make sense. Strategic, managed from the destination level and with a clear goal. 

Especially because the Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board did not set out to create yet another event or promotional campaign that lasts for a few days and disappears after the first media announcement. This is long-term management of the shaping of the tourist product.

Of course, every process like this takes time for the project to mature, for the market to accept it, and for it to become part of the tourism product.

The identity of a destination is not created overnight, just as the market is not changed through a single campaign. It takes years of work, investment, promotion, measures, tactics, and the involvement of restaurateurs, chefs, local producers, travel agencies, and the market.

If in five or more years we get to the point where Dalmatian brunch and local cuisine are seriously present in 20 to 30 percent of restaurants and taverns who hold on to their own identity - the goal is absolutely fulfilledThis is already a clear indicator of strategic development.

The point of the whole story is that when a guest sits down at a table in Dalmatia, he feels that he has truly arrived in Croatia and Dalmatia.

Because the issue of gastronomy has never been just a question of food. It is a question of destination management. If we want quality tourism, a greater degree of authenticity and greater added value, then local gastronomy is not just a detail of the offer. It is part of the identity infrastructure or, more precisely, the DNA of the destination.