Food tourism challenges in the pandemic period: getting back to traditional and natural-based products

Searching for rural, intact areas out of cities during the COVID-19 crisis, tourists brought renewed interest in consuming traditional food based on wild edible herbs/natural products. Increased interest in local herbal potentials could be a driving force in modelling rural destinations to enrich food tourism offers and provide a new experience. This study aimed to assess the relevance of ethnobotany and traditional knowledge on wild herbs utilization with a focus on increased demand for natural products as a basis for future food tourism offer creation in rural areas. By applying free-listed observations and semi-structured ethnobotanical interview approach data were obtained (n = 169) and quantitatively analyzed using indices of Relative Frequency Citation (RFC), Use Value (UV) and Pearson Correlation Coefficient (PCC). The final results were visualized using the Venn diagram and DIVA-GIS. The results indicate subtle transformation in food tourism demands and new trends in nutrition based on 34 species divided into 7 functional groups along the geographic gradient. Traditional food systems through reviving ethnobotanical knowledge and practices should be a matter of future food tourism management.