Terroir products and culture at the heart of the tourism industry: a qualitative study

Abstract

Despite health, social and economic crises, the tourism industry continues to expand and evolve, especially here in Morocco, the country that had fascinated tourists from all over the globe with its terroir products and original cultural diversity, combining amazigh, arab and african culture, in a Judeo-Muslim religious mix.

The objective of this study is to explore and understand the relationship between cultural tourism and terroir products and what impact the latter could have on internal cultural tourism. Thus, we will focus on internal cultural tourism relating to terroir products, which in our case is olive oil from the Beni-Mellal region, and more specifically from the town of Fkih Ben Saleh, known for its olive oil mills and the distinct quality of its olive oil.

We will structure our article as follows: First, we will examine the theoretical framework relating to the terroir and its products, then the conceptual framework of cultural tourism and heritage. Secondly, we will explain the research methodology and the approach followed to carry out our qualitative study and finally discuss the results obtained.