Promoting regional foods as a factor for sustainable development

Annotation: The paper is a part of a below mentioned project and its aim is to propose activities and practical outputs which could support regional foods and products in promotion and sustainability of development in different regions. Regional foods or products not only promote regions; they also create new work places, they are significant potentials in the development of tourist industry (in particular gastro-tourism) and, last but not least, they give local citizens a sense of belonging to a region. The research is focused on the awareness of selected region citizens about regional foods in relation to quality, origin, trademark, price and impact on sustainable development in the promotion of the region. Taking into account regional development actors' view, the paper analyses whether the producers of regional foods experienced changes in economic profitability after receiving the mark and what significance the regional food mark has on the development of promotion in the region. Based on wider research questions, a general hypothesis and several work hypotheses were stated. The field survey was carried out with the help of a quantitative approach using techniques of questioning. The collated data were analysed using mathematical-statistic methods. The role of a quantitative survey using semi-standardised interviews with producers of awarded regional foods was to find out benefits and contribution of regional foods to the development of entrepreneurial activity both from a perspective of regional development and tourism. The elicited findings were analysed and discussed to draw conclusions.