Gastronomic brands as a means of promoting destinations

Gastronomic tourism is a special form of cultural tourism, the main purpose of which is familiarity with a certain tourist product or a platter. Gastronomic tourism is working closely with many types of tourism, in particular with a tour, ethnographic, culinary and oenological. The organizational technology of gastro- nomic tourism involves many sectors of industry and agriculture. It should be noted that not all theorists of tourism and tourism professionals differentiate gastronomic tourism as an independent species. According to experts, tourists learn the products and dishes of this or that destination “de facto”, regardless of the purpose of the trip. It is difficult to accept, even because tourists engaged in certain types of tourism (health and fitness, sports tourism) are unable to break the dietary or diet, or to deviate from the diet. Meanwhile, the researches of the resource base for the organization of gastronomic tourism in Russia are practically not carried out. The article analyzes the role of gastronomic tourism as a promising direction of the economy experiences. The authors consider gastronomic tours as tours of senses (taste, tactile, olfactory and aes- thetic). According to the authors, the foundation of gastronomic tourism makes culinary (food) brands. This category is like a means of promoting destinations, original card of regions. The authors describe the special role of the gastronomic brands in forming the image of the tourist areas, which are suitable for the develop- ment of gastronomic tourism; the authors attempt to classify product brands on various criteria. Finally, they make recommendations for the organizers of tourism on the use of product brands in the promotion and implementation of gastronomic tours, as well as executive bodies in charge of regulation of tourism at the municipal and federal levels.