Structuring a Gastronomic Route on the Local Sweets and Other Cultural Heritage: The Case of The Route of Arouca’s Sweet Secrets

The municipality of Arouca, in the district of Aveiro, Portugal, has a rich and diverse legacy, including religious, gastronomic and geological heritage. Although Arouca has seen sustained growth in tourism, it is believed it still has a lot of potential, especially in the less explored tourist segments like gastronomic tourism. This proposal has two aims: (i) to structure a gastronomic route with territorial implantation in the municipality of Arouca, in the district of Aveiro, with the sweets of Arouca as its main product, but also with coherent consideration of other cultural heritage through associations; (ii) to enrich and complement the tourist offer of this unsaturated destination, fostering tourist, economic and social growth. This route is expected to reach other market segments that still have insufficient reasons to visit the destination, namely gastronomic tourists. The structure of this proposal begins with a brief contextualisation of the subject, followed by a presentation of the methodology adopted, a description of the route designed, and ends with the expected impact on tourism and some final considerations. It was concluded that this route could contribute to the development of Arouca as a tourist destination, characterised by its model of combining sweets with other heritage, strengthening its cultural and experiential aspects. However, for the proposed route to be successful, several critical success factors must be considered, such as innovation and creativity, a model for quantification, monitoring and control, and sustainability. Furthermore, a governance model that develops a symbiotic relationship between the needs of the local population and the needs of tourists is of paramount importance.