Does gastronomy determine visitors’ holiday destination choice? Empirical evidence based on a mixed-methods research approach

Abstract

Gastronomy emerges as one of the key components of visitors’ holiday experiences and increasingly shapes vacationers’ holiday destination choices. As an integral component of the tourist experience and destinations’ cultural heritage, gastronomy enhances visitors’ local and cultural understanding. Despite the increase in academic studies on gastronomy, there is still a scarcity of research that investigates whether gastronomy determines visitors’ holiday destination choices and the extent to which it does . To bridge this research gap, the current study examines whether gastronomy determines visitors’ holiday destination choice and explores the nexus between gastronomy and holiday destination image by adopting a mixed-methods research approach. We have collected data from 205 respondents, who represent 45 countries from all corners of the globe, using an online survey. Research findings show that for 87% of the respondents, gastronomy is one of the key factors that determine their holiday destination choice. Especially for Asian and African tourists, gastronomy plays a crucial role in determining their holiday destination choice compared to Europeans, Americans, and other tourists. Findings further demonstrate that gastronomy is intertwined with tourist destinations by creating a lasting destination image, complementing visitors’ holidays, and being one of the core destination products. Research findings offer substantial theoretical and practical implications for Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) and catering establishments by highlighting the vitality of gastronomy as a core tourist destinations’ product. The study calls for pertinent tourism stakeholders to work together to develop, market, and manage resilient, competitive, and sustainable gastronomy niche tourism.

Keywords:

• authenticity
• catering businesses
• DMOs
• gastronomy tourism
• destination image
• destination choice
• novelty
• gastronomy research

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

Local gastronomy becomes a key tourist destinations’ product with wide-ranging implications. On the one hand, gastronomy enables tourist destinations to manifest their cultural identity and diversify their tourist product base. On the other hand, it allows visitors to experience local delicacies and enrich their holiday experience. This is because gastronomy is profoundly intertwined with culture and nature and enables visitors to better understand and appreciate destinations’ cultural values and natural ecosystem. The nature of gastronomy tourism, which takes many forms, such as food festivals, street food or luxury dining experiences, producer visits, and cooking demonstrations, also contributes to the development of slow tourism, which reduces visitors’ carbon footprint and boosts the contributions of the tourism sector. The diversified and multifaceted attributes of gastronomy-related tourism are also the fundamental elements of destination competitiveness as part of the broader tourism value chain.

1. Introduction

Gastronomy is a concept that encompasses a broad spectrum of terms (Kokkranikal & Carabelli, 2021). These include a foodshed—a place for the cultivation and distribution of food supplies, a foodscape—a place for food and beverage to serve where a dining table is also considered as a place for serving food, dining experience, service culture, and the practice of studying and classifying food and beverage items (Soeroso & Turgarini, 2020). Over the past two decades, local gastronomy has emerged as a key component of destinations’ tourism products and has improved visitors’ holiday experiences. Local gastronomy has also been shaping visitors’ dining options, travel decision-making process, and holiday destinations (Ellis et al., 2018; Kim et al., 2009; Mak et al., 2012; Mora et al., 2021; Okumus, 2021). As an integral element of the tourism experience, gastronomy also plays an essential role in terms of cultural manifestation, education, and entertainment (Kim et al., 2009; Wondirad et al., 2021) and destinations’ socio-economic development (Andersson, Mossberg & Therkelsen, 2017; Tsai & Wang, 2017). The strong association between the image of certain countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and Thailand and their delicacies not only implies the quality and variety of cuisines but also demonstrates gastronomy as a core and unique leisure activity (Gheorghe et al., 2014; Pavlidis & Markantonatou, 2020). That leads to the emergence and burgeoning of food tourism destinations, where the consumption of gastronomy is a predominant motivation (Choe & Kim, 2018; Gheorghe et al., 2014). In this vein, The World Food Travel Association (2019, p. 1) elaborated on gastronomy tourism as “the act of traveling for a taste of a place to get a sense of place.” Food tourism, therefore, is a medium through which consumers meaningfully interact with destinations and local communities and thereby better understand destinations’ culture and nature (Chang et al., 2010; Ellis et al., 2018; World Food Travel Association, 2019).

In recent years, gastronomy has become one of the major tourist attractions on its own (Gálvez et al., 2017; Tsai & Wang, 2017) and serves as a useful tool in social change by contributing to economic development (Bellini et al., 2018; Navarro-Dols & González-Pernía, 2020). Research shows that tourists spend nearly half of their holiday budget on gastronomy (Okumus et al., 2018; Tsai & Wang, 2017). A study conducted two decades ago by Enteleca Research and Consultancy (2000) also revealed that nearly 72% of tourists visiting the United Kingdom were found to be interested in local gastronomy with a satisfactory consumption experience. Especially these days, food tourism, food-related activities, and culinary experiences are receiving increasing attention both as core ingredients of destination marketing and as academic research frontiers (Gálvez et al., 2017, Okumus et al., 2018; Robinson et al., 2018; Wondirad et al., 2021). The current literature is rich in studies that examine gastronomy and its multifaceted impacts on tourist destinations.

For instance, the role of gastronomy as an element of destination attraction (Ab Karim & Chi, 2010; Agyeiwaah et al., 2019; Gálvez et al., 2017), the role of gastronomy in destination image restoration (Castillo-Villar, 2020), the effects of local food consumption on tourists’ attitude, food destination image, and behavioral intention (Choe & Kim, 2018; Widjaja et al., 2020), and the role of culinary tourism as a driver of regional economic development and socio-cultural revitalization (Wondirad et al., 2021) can be mentioned. Furthermore, the influence of food as a push and pull factor in travel motivation (Su et al., 2020), the role of food tourism in sustaining regional identity (Everett & Aitchison, 2008), the role of gastronomy in creative tourism development (Bastenegar & Hassani, 2019), and the importance of food safety in travel planning and destination selection (MacLaurin, 2004) are among the various pertinent gastronomic studies. Moreover, Lai et al. (2019) have examined the impact of gastronomy on destination branding, whereas Björk and Kauppinen-Räisänen (2017) investigated the role of destinations’ gastronomy in improving visitors’ holiday well-being. A study conducted by Mak et al. (2012) also examined factors that influence tourist food consumption through a systematic review of previous research, while Björk and Kauppinen-Räisänen (2016) identified factors that affect travelers’ food-related behavior.

Despite the recent surge in academic literature about gastronomy and culinary-related tourism that investigates the various dimensions of gastronomy in relation to tourism, there is still a scarcity of research that empirically substantiates the influence and extent of local gastronomy in determining visitors’ decision-making in choosing their holiday destination. In other words, existing literature does not adequately inform us whether local gastronomy determines visitors’ holiday destination choice and the extent to which it does, as well as how the influence is associated with visitors’ socio-demographics. Therefore, in order to bridge this gap in knowledge, the current study aims to:

1. examine the influence and extent of gastronomy on visitors’ holiday destination choice.

2. analyze if the influence of gastronomy on visitors’ destination choice varies based on socio-demographic factors and

3. explore the nexus between gastronomy and holiday destination image.

2. Theoretical background

As the current study focuses on examining the influence of gastronomy on tourists’ holiday destination choices, we first explore the link between gastronomy and holiday destination image, and then we explain gastronomy, socio-demographic factors, and visitors’ destination choices. Eventually, gastronomy as a core tourism product and its impact on visitors’ perceptions and destination choices are discussed. Throughout the paper, the term gastronomy stands for food and drinks that are available and unique to tourist destinations.

2.1. The interconnection between gastronomy and tourist destination image

Gastronomy plays an important role in improving visitor experience and thereby promoting destination image through collective memory (e.g., Fields, 2002, Hjalager & Richards, 2002; Huete-Alcocer & Hernandez-Rojas, 2022; Jolliffe, 2019; Martín et al., 2020; Mathouraparsad & Maurin, 2017; Okumus et al., 2007). Gastronomy also plays an integral role in tourism value chain creation by creating backward linkages with agriculture (Kim et al., 2021). The recent emphasis on gastronomic-related tourism encourages numerous destinations to utilize gastronomic products as a tool to attract visitors and improve their perception of the destination image (Huang et al., 2019). Moreover, some places promote themselves as gastronomic hotspots by making food their main destination attribute (Björk & Kauppinen-Räisänen, 2016; Karim & Chi, 2010; Prat Forga & Cànoves Valiente, 2012).

Destinations’ gastronomic image is composed of cognitive and affective attributes that influence visitors’ intentions to experience local dishes (Sunhee Seo et al., 2017; Yeoman et al., 2019). However, according to Huete-Alcocer and Hernandez-Rojas (2022), the cognitive image is the strongest component, with a greater effect on the overall image than on the affective component. The cognitive image of destinations’ gastronomy is all about consumers’ evaluation of its attributes based on factors such as quality and safety, attractiveness, promotion of health, inclusiveness, and cooking methods that eventually determine the strength of visitors’ cognitive image (Kim et al., 2021; Sunhee Seo et al., 2017). If both cognitive and affective aspects are positive, visitors’ intention to consume local gastronomy increases, and this decision will be preferred to overeating familiar food, which highlights the importance of using appropriate marketing, such as well-chosen images outside of restaurants, to persuade visitors to experience new gastronomy (Huete-Alcocer & Hernandez-Rojas, 2022). Tourists’ emotions, positive or negative, associated with their gastronomic experience have a strong impact on their destination memory, image, and loyalty (Hernandez-Rojas et al., 2021). As noted by Fusté-Forné et al. (2020), diversifying gastronomic varieties helps to attract a large spectrum of consumers, which in turn increases the chance to create a positive destination image.

More than food consumption, many attributes that are associated with gastronomy, such as food culture, history, people, landscape, and social events, create destination memories and images eventually (Folgado-Fernández et al., 2017; Timothy & Ron, 2013). Those different criteria can be attributed to a “synergy design model”, which also encompasses partnership attitudes with the suppliers of restaurants, the food cultural heritage, and the biodiversity of agricultural productions (Meneguel et al., 2022). Destination memory is also fostered by the observation of food-making processes, food recollection, and discussions with local vendors (Bessière, 1998).

Hence, the strengths of gastronomy in creating a destination image rely on both material and immaterial aspects that can contribute to broader experiences onsite and positively affect the tourists’ perceptions of the destination. In such circumstances, factors such as hygiene and security should be taken into consideration to create a sense of safety, which is crucial to boosting destinations’ gastronomic image (Huete-Alcocer & Hernandez-Rojas, 2022). Gastronomic experiences can take several forms, such as street food or luxury dining experiences, food festivals, farm tours, and participating in cooking sessions (Chen & Huang, 2019; Folgado-Fernández et al., 2017, Pratt et al., 2020; Wondirad et al., 2021), which help to create an experience that engages all their senses (Carvão, 2019) and thereby leading to a positive destination image and intention to return (Lin, 2014; Xu & Kim, 2019). Hence, managers of food festivals shall coordinate relevant stakeholders, such as public and private administrators, to a positive destination image and memories by reinforcing the destination’s gastronomy brand (Folgado-Fernández et al., 2017). From a promotional standpoint, emotional marketing should also be considered to attract more potential tourists (Mora et al., 2020).

2.2. Gastronomy, socio-demographic factors, and visitors’ destination choice

Gastronomy becomes an essential element in the attractiveness of a tourist destination (Chang et al., 2010; Huete-Alcocer & Hernandez-Rojas, 2022). Food consumption patterns have seen a significant change because of recent developments such as economic growth, health consciousness, technological advancement, and societal lifestyle changes (Başaran, 2020). Therefore, the motivation, perception, and consumption of local gastronomy vary in line with visitors’ socio-demographic factors (Bardhi et al., 2010; Gálvez et al., 2017; Mak et al., 2012; Moral-Cuadra et al., 2022). For example, 58% of South Korean outbound tourists pack Korean food such as instant noodles, dried and seasoned laver, kimchi, and condiments (The Korean Herald, 2018). Several studies (e.g., Chang et al., 2010; Cohen & Avieli, 2004; Tse & Crotts, 2005) also reveal similar trends, with Chinese overseas travelers preferring to consume their own national cuisines rather than the destinations’ local gastronomy. Moreover, a study by Vuksanović et al. (2017) reported significant differences in visitors’ perceptions of local gastronomy depending on socio-demographic factors such as age, level of education, monthly income, and nationality. In their systematic literature review work, Mak et al. (2012) also discussed visitors’ socio-demographics as determinant factors influencing food consumption patterns in tourist destinations. Recent studies also show that for US and UK Millennials and post-Millennials, tasting local gastronomy is one of the top attractive destination activities (Rita et al., 2019).

According to Torres (2002), visitors’ nationality is a key factor that determines the intention of tourists’ local food consumption. For instance, in the context of Chinese tourists, cultural influence is a major determinant factor affecting food preferences (Chang et al., 2010). In a similar vein, Jiménez Beltrán et al. (2016) explored that in Córdoba, Spain, highly educated tourists tend to exhibit high purchasing power, with a motivation to learn about the cultural heritage of the city, including culinary, and with an appreciation of various local gastronomies and the quality of service offered. As several scholars suggest, understanding the interrelationships between visitors’ socio-demographic factors and destinations’ gastronomy has paramount significance for accurately segmenting and thereby properly catering to the gastronomic desires of visitors, which enriches their holiday experience (Chang et al., 2010; Correia et al., 2009; Levitt et al., 2019; Li et al., 2018; Pérez-Priego et al., 2019; Santos et al., 2020).

2.3. Gastronomy as a core tourism product in tourist destinations and its impact on visitors’ perceptions and destination choices

As noted by Garcia et al. (2012) and Lee et al. (2005), destination image plays two critical roles in the behaviors of visitors: primarily, it influences their decision-making in choosing destinations; and secondly, it determines their behavior, revisiting intentions, and disposition to recommend the destination to others. A tourist destination is an amalgam of several products and services (Agyeiwaah et al., 2016), where gastronomy constitutes a significant stake (Kumar, 2019). Gastronomy is both an art and a science that interlinks ethnicity, nation, race, religion, and culture and allows visitors to better understand and appreciate destinations’ cultural and natural attractions as a form of learning platform (Soeroso & Turgarini, 2020; Wondirad et al., 2021). If destinations properly develop and offer authentic and high-quality gastronomic products in line with consumers’ needs, they can gain a competitive advantage in creating a positive destination image (Sunhee Seo et al., 2017). Furthermore, the availability of gastronomic products helps to keep tourists for a long time in destinations (Hall & Mitchell, 2006), which promotes slow and sustainable tourism (Huang et al., 2023; Kebete & Wondirad, 2019). Compared to other tourism experiences, products related to culinary exhibit some unique features, making them a strong tourism marketing tool. For instance, endemic dishes from particular destinations at a regional or national level can serve as a destination brand. Such dishes have the power to give tourists a sense of unique and authentic taste (Wang, 1999; Wondirad et al., 2021). By relating gastronomic experiences to certain locations and reinforcing the destinations’ identities, visitors can create positive memories that motivate them to revisit and promote them to potential visitors (Chen & Huang, 2019). These memories can also take the form of nostalgia, where visitors can recall parts of their childhood and prior consumption experiences (Ding & Lee, 2017). Gastronomy is also highly connected to the food landscape, natural ecosystem, spatial distribution, institutional arrangements, and structures within tourist destinations, enabling the food ecosystem to make significant contributions to the overall destination attractiveness and tourism value chain (Soeroso & Turgarini, 2020).

3. Research methodology

This study employs a mixed-methods research approach to benefit from both the strengths of the two approaches and thereby adequately address the research objectives outlined (Creswell, 2013) and collects data from 205 respondents. Overall, 45 countries are represented in the survey. The online survey comprises both quantitative and qualitative questions, along with some screening questions to recruit only relevant participants. We have briefly explained the objectives of the survey and sought consent from participants. Furthermore, to protect the privacy and confidentiality of research participants, the study thoroughly considers ethical issues. The survey has two sections. Section one addresses the influence of gastronomy on visitors’ holiday destination choice and the attributes of gastronomy that impact their consumption experience, as well as their overall opinion regarding the connections between gastronomy and holiday destinations. The second segment of the survey deals with the demographics of participants. Quantitative data are analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 24, while qualitative data are analyzed using QDA Miner Qualitative Data Analysis Software. MS Excel also assisted in arranging qualitative data transcripts.

We have utilized inferential statistics such as descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, independent samples t-test, and analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) to analyze quantitative data (Field, 2013; Ho, 2013), whereas we employed thematic and content analysis to organize and analyze qualitative data (Filep et al., 2022; Kebete & Wondirad, 2019; Wondirad et al., 2020). We have cleaned, purified, and organized the raw qualitative data to make it ready for subsequent coding and analysis (Merriam, 2009). In the process, three types of coding techniques (i.e., open, axial, and selective coding) were applied (Brotherton, 2008; Easterby-Smith et al., 2015).

4. Results and findings

4.1. Demographics of the respondents

As can be seen in Figure 1, in terms of gender, female and male respondents equally constitute 49.8%. Asians constitute the largest share (35%), followed by Africans (22%), and Oceanians (14%). The specific countries of origin of the respondents are presented in Appendix 1. On the other hand, Europeans constitute only 6% of the total respondents, while respondents from other continents comprise 19%. In terms of age, the vast majority of the respondents (58%) belong to the age category of 20–30, followed by the 31–40 age category (26%). Finally, the 41–50 age category accounts for 11% of the respondents, whereas 2% of the respondents belong to the 50+ age group. Regarding respondents’ educational level, master’s and bachelor’s degree holders constitute 35% each, followed by Ph.D. degree holders (14%).

Figure 1. Demographics of respondents.

4.2. The impact of gastronomy in determining visitors’ holiday destination choice

Findings reveal that gastronomy determines visitors’ holiday destination choice, as 162 (79%) of the respondents replied “yes” to the question, ”Do you consider destinations’ cuisine (gastronomy) as one of the key factors when you decide on your holiday destinations?” Using a follow-up question, we also uncover the extent to which gastronomy determines visitors’ holiday destination choices. Hence, respondents were provided with a subsequent question:”If your answer to question number one is yes, to what extent do you consider the destinations’ local gastronomy in your decisions?” Accordingly, results show that for 25% of the respondents, destinations’ gastronomy influences their holiday destination choice “to a larger extent”, while for 62% of the respondents, gastronomy impacts their holiday destination choice “to some extent” in choosing their holiday destination (Table 1). Therefore, for 87% of respondents, gastronomy is a factor that influences holiday destination choice. A study conducted in Cordoba (Spain) by Sánchez-Cañizares and López-Guzmán (2012) also explored that for 10% of Cordoba visitors, gastronomy is one of the major factors for visiting the city, while 68% believe that the local cuisine is an important but not essential element of their trip.

Table 1. The extent to which respondents consider destination gastronomy in their holiday destination choice

		Frequency	Percent
If your answer to question number 1 is yes, to what extent do you consider destinations’ food in your decisions?	To a larger extent	51	25
	To some extent	128	62
	Not at all	26	13
	Total	205	1.0

As far as the influence of gastronomy across respondents’ socio-demographics is concerned, cross-tabulation results show a statistically significant difference (p <.05) among Asians, Europeans, Africans, and respondents from other continents in considering cuisine (gastronomy) as one of the key factors when they decide or choose their holiday destinations. Asians and Africans give higher importance to destinations’ cuisine compared to Europeans and other respondents (Tables 2 and 3). Cross-tabulation results are also validated by the one-way ANOVA results, which show a statistically significant difference among the same group of respondents (p <.05). Consequently, for Asian and African respondents, destinations’ cuisine plays a major role when they decide on their holiday destination more than the rest of the respondents (Table 4). However, apart from this, the study finds no statistically significant differences among respondents based on their age, educational status, or gender.

Table 2. Consideration of destinations’ gastronomy as a factor when deciding holiday destinations: cross-tabulation results of regional nationality

			Regional Nationality
			Asians	Europeans	Africans	Others	Total
Do you consider cuisine (gastronomy) as one of the factors when you decide on your holiday destinations?	Yes	Count	72	9	47	34	162
		Expected Count	69.8	11.9	43.6	35.7	161.0
	No	Count	16	6	8	12	42
		Expected Count	18.2	3.1	11.4	9.3	42.0
Missing							1
Total		Count	88	15	55	46	205

Table 3. Chi-Square test results

Chi-Square Tests
	Value	Df	Asymptotic Significance (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square	7.530^a	3	.048
Likelihood Ratio	6.746	3	.065
Linear-by-Linear Association	.363	1	.540
N of Valid Cases	204

^a.2 cells (25.0%) have an expected count of less than 5. The minimum expected count is 2.57.

Table 4. ANOVA test results

ANOVA
If your answer to question number 1 is yes, to what extent do you consider destinations’ gastronomy in your decisions?
	Sum of Squares	Df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Between Groups	3.480	3	1.099	3.164	.031
Within Groups	65.052	200	.357
Total	68.532	203

4.3. The nexus between gastronomy and destination image

Qualitative data validates that among the various attributes of gastronomy, key elements and supplementary elements are identified. Consequently, novelty, taste and flavor, authenticity, and ambiance are the key elements that contribute toward the formation of a memorable destination image (Table 5). Furthermore, food presentation and smell, food quality and variety, as well as the quality of service, are additional attributes that help to create a memorable destination image. Eventually, the way food is prepared (the art of cooking), socialization (consuming food with friends, families, and locals), and price are among the major factors that create a strong memory of holiday destinations.

Table 5. Major attributes of destinations’ gastronomy that create a memorable destination image

No	Items	Frequency	Percent
1	Novelty	116	20
2	Taste and flavor/smell	103	18
3	Authenticity	85	15
4	Ambiance	62	11
5	Presentation	49	8
6	Food quality and variety	46	8
7	Service quality	37	6
8	Food production process (the art of cooking)	31	5
9	Socialization	28	5
10	Price	22	4

The desire to travel and taste unique and authentic dishes is a growing phenomenon (Le et al., 2019; Li & Su, 2021; Smith & Costello, 2009). Food evokes memory and promotes the development of integrated tourism due to its ability to symbolize place and culture, provide a moral “feel-good” factor that arises from healthy consumption, and enable visitors to experience a sense of connection with destinations—both during and after their visit (Sims, 2009). The fact that gastronomy is something that we see, smell, eat, and drinkcreates a three-dimensional experience, a strong destination memory, and thereby an image. This is because food consumption may be one of the most hedonic experiences for tourists with a strong post-trip reminiscence (Lee, 2017). One of the research participants solidified this by describing -“As food is part of a destination culture and something that we can taste, smell, consume, and enjoy, it has a profound effect on creating a prolonged destination memory and image.” Indeed, our sensory perceptions play a fundamental psychological and physiological role while consuming gastronomy to create a pleasurable sensory experience that lasts for a long period of time (Prat Forga & Cànoves Valiente, 2012). Local gastronomy also serves as a tool to restore a destination image ravaged by negative media projections (Castillo-Villar, 2020). A positive destination image created because of well-prepared local gastronomy, in turn, improves the overall destination image and ignites revisit intention (Chen & Huang, 2019; Garcia et al., 2012; Karim & Chi, 2010). Similarly, Sthapitet al. (2020) explored novelty and experiencing local culture through cuisine as the main motivations for tasting local food. Moreover, for a long time, destinations’ gastronomy has been considered a supporting resource that supplements destinations’ appeal to tourists (Mak et al., 2012). Correspondingly, in the current study, for several respondents, gastronomy has become complementary to visitors’ holidays.

Nevertheless, gastronomy has also emerged as a core destination product, and it determines visitors’ holiday destination choice, especially in recent years (Björk & Kauppinen-Räisänen, 2016; Sthapit et al., 2020). For instance, in a recent study, Sthapit et al. (2020) demonstrated that for more than half of their respondents, tasting local food was one of the prime motivations for taking trips and was considered a primary activity in their holiday destination. Subsequently, gastronomy has become an important attribute in the development of niche tourism unique to certain destinations (Prat Forga & Cànoves Valiente, 2012). Therefore, destinations can leverage their culinary culture as their unique selling proposition (USP) and benefit from their comparative advantages (World Food Travel Association, 2021). In other words, experiencing destinations’ food has become a major component of tourists’ itineraries and a focus of destination strategies at the same time (Yeoman & McMahon-Beatte, 2016). As a result, an increasing number of destinations employ their culinary resources to market and differentiate themselves from competitors (Mak et al., 2012). Consuming locally produced gastronomy products also improves holidaymakers’ well-being and raises their happiness in addition to promoting sustainable tourism (Björk & Kauppinen-Räisänen, 2017). A research participant demonstrated this by expressing, “Eating delicious locally produced food on holidays calms me down, heals me, and makes me happy.” To ensure consumers’ happiness and well-being, guaranteeing food safety and authenticity as well as fairness in price are equally critical, as findings in the current study inform (Björk & Kauppinen-Räisänen, 2017; Lee et al., 2015). In the current era where the consumer market is driven by hyper-competition, authenticity has been increasingly seen as a tool to spark consumers’ drive and thereby boost their experience (Le et al., 2019; Li & Su, 2021). Moreover, tourists increase their self-importance and reputation by consuming lavish and authentic cuisine during their holidays, as the following quote elucidates: “On my holidays, I prefer to eat more expensive and authentic local food than the usual meal as an opportunity.”

To address the third research objective of the study, we asked participants about how they associate gastronomy with holiday destinations. After carefully sorting and aggregating the opinions expressed by participants, we have arrived at 10 major themes that demonstrate various associations between gastronomy and holiday destinations. As can be seen in Table 6, “gastronomy creates a lasting destination image” emerges as a leading theme, being stated 94 times (22%), followed by “gastronomy complements visitors’ holidays,” highlighted 87 times (20%), and “gastronomy as a core destination product,” stated 65 times (15%). In this respect, a respondent expressed his opinion as follows: “I think gastronomy is very much connected to holiday destinations. I tend to remember the destination or the holiday more based on the food I have consumed.” Moreover, gastronomy as a “platform to learn and discover tourist destinations” and “gastronomy as a determinant factor of holiday destination choice” are highlighted 47 (11%) and 45 (10%) times, respectively. Furthermore, the role of gastronomy as “a unique selling proposition (USP) and the impact of gastronomy in making holidays memorable and igniting revisit intentions are pointed out 41 (10%) and 19 (4%) times, correspondingly. For about 15 respondents (3%), gastronomy and holiday destinations have a close but not decisive link. Furthermore, for a couple of respondents, destinations’ gastronomy serves as a source of happiness and helps them feel important. Eventually, a handful of respondents reported that gastronomy has a profound economic impact on tourist destinations on top of manifesting destinations’ culinary heritage. In convergence with the t-test and one-way ANOVA results, the items presented in Table 6 were highlighted mainly by Asian and African participants, in contrast to Europeans and other participants.

Table 6. The nexus between gastronomy and holiday destinations

No	Items	Frequency	Percent
1	Gastronomy creates a lasting destination image	94	22
2	Destinations’ gastronomy complements visitors’ holiday	87	20
3	Destinations’ gastronomy as a core destination product	65	15
4	Gastronomy serves as a platform to learn and discover	47	11
5	Gastronomy is a determinant factor of holiday destination choice	45	10
6	Gastronomy as a unique selling proposition (USP) for destinations	41	10
7	Gastronomy makes holidays memorable and ignites repeat visits	19	4
8	Gastronomy and holidays have a close link but are not decisive	15	3
9	Gastronomy is a source of happiness and feels important	11	3
10	Gastronomy has profound economic impacts on holiday destinations	8	2

5. Discussion

Gastronomy becomes one of the key components of visitors’ holiday experiences and increasingly shapes their holiday destination choices. Many research participants confirmed this in the present study. Taking a closer look, for 62% of respondents, gastronomy determines their holiday destination choice to some extent. According to Björk and Kauppinen-Räisänen (2016), these are known as “enjoyers,” who perceive food as a casual good despite very much enjoying dining during their holiday. On the other hand, for 25% of the respondents, gastronomy has a substantial impact on choosing their holiday destinations. These are called “foodies” according to Yeoman and McMahon-Beatte (2016), “local gastronomy foodies” according to Santos et al. (2020), and “experiencers” according to Björk and Kauppinen-Räisänen (2016). These segments of tourists are dedicated consumers who use food to socialize and enrich their experiences and perceive gastronomy as a critical factor in boosting their holiday experiences and understanding destinations’ culture and nature. Finally, the remaining 13% of the respondents are “survivors,” according to Björk and Kauppinen-Räisänen (2016), and “non-foodies,” according to Santos et al. (2020), who need destinations’ gastronomy only to satisfy their basic physiological needs. Compared to Europeans and other visitors, Asian and African tourists tend to be more influenced by gastronomy in choosing their holiday destinations. Nonetheless, apart from that, other visitor profiles such as age, gender, and educational status show no significant differences among respondents. This is in line with what Björk and Kauppinen-Räisänen (2017) and Mora et al. (2021) discussed regarding the universality of gastronomy these days, irrespective of socio-demographic differences. According to the aforementioned scholars, gastronomy plays a paramount role in improving holiday experiences and thereby boosts satisfaction not only for food tourists but also for general-interest tourists. Existing literature (e.g., Bardhi et al., 2010; Chang et al., 2010; Cohen & Avieli, 2004; Gálvez et al., 2017; Jiménez Beltrán et al., 2016; Mak et al., 2012; Moral-Cuadra et al., 2022) also demonstrates variations among visitors toward destinations gastronomy depending on one or more socio-demographic factors.

Subsequently, gastronomic tourism is a growing segment of tourism that involves visiting farmlands, food producers, food festivals, restaurants, and special places to taste and experience food specialties (Kivela & Crotts, 2006; Wondirad et al., 2021). Consequently, gastronomy has emerged as a core destination attraction and a means of tourism promotion (Björk & Kauppinen-Räisänen, 2016; Soeroso & Turgarini, 2020). It is, therefore, apparent that gastronomic tourism offers multifaceted advantages for tourist destinations as it (1) attracts potential visitors, (2) enhances visitors’ destination experience, leading to wonderful memories and positive word of mouth, (3) promotes destinations’ socio-cultural values, (4) creates employment opportunities within its value chain, and (5) generates revenue, which helps to improve the socio-economic conditions of destinations (Andersson & Mossberg, 2017; Björk & Kauppinen-Räisänen, 2016; Jia, 2019; Mora et al., 2021; Soeroso & Turgarini, 2020; Sthapit, 2018). Some studies suggest that, on top of being a valid motivation for travel, gastronomy also triggers repeat visits (Fernández et al., 2015; Kivela & Crotts, 2006), and the findings of the current study reinforce this. However, it is also important to note the tendency to overstate the number of gastronomy tourists because they coincidentally consume local cuisine, which leads to an exaggeration of the phenomenon.

Among the various essential attributes of gastronomic tourism, its authenticity receives the highest weight (Le et al., 2019; Tribe & Mkono, 2017). As participants in the current study repeatedly emphasize, the consumption of authentic local gastronomy is at the heart of visitors’ destination experiences with profound implications in terms of revisit intentions and positive word of mouth. Authenticity is a concept that features a product, service, or experience in terms of originality or genuineness (Abarca, 2004; Brown, 2001). Hence, authenticity occupies center stage in consumers’ overall memory, image, and intention to repurchase (Tribe & Mkono, 2017; van Nuenen, 2016). The authenticity of a product is primarily customer-centric, which has a powerful impact on shaping consumers’ perceptions in the contemporary tourism and hospitality market. Furthermore, in the current consumer market, the influence of authenticity is highly galvanized by media hype due to increasing commoditized products because of homogeneity and mass production to respond to mounting global demand (Le et al., 2019). In the context of gastronomy tourism, authenticity is a cumulative outcome of several elements, including the quality of ingredients, the authenticity of the tangible product itself, the service quality, the delivery process, the tourism firm, and the overall ambiance in the consumption process (Cherro Osorio et al., 2022; Ellis et al., 2018). Therefore, ensuring gastronomic authenticity plays a profound role in boosting visitors’ dining experiences (Okumus, 2021; Ram et al., 2016). Considering the steadily increasing non-curable diseases and increased awareness of consumers in terms of their health and dietary preferences, the future of gastronomic tourism looks bright (Andersson & Mossberg, 2017; Björk & Kauppinen-Räisänen, 2016; World Food Travel Association, 2020). As discussed by Björk and Kauppinen-Räisänen (2016) and confirmed by this study, there has been a growing movement in food-related behavior that highlights consumers’ increasing desire to consume locally produced food. As a result, gastronomic tourism is a booming market segment that attracts billions of dollars in revenue with viable local economic development in addition to inspiring more academic research (Williams et al., 2018).

Food experiences while traveling are more memorable than those experienced at the usual place of residence. Therefore, food and travel complement and support each other (Stone et al., 2021). A memorable experience becomes exclusively important to tourist destinations since it is “perhaps the single most important source of information” in deciding to revisit destinations (Braun LaTour et al., 2006, p. 360). As noted by Tsai (2016) and Duarte Alonso, O’Shea, and Kok (2020), positive memories of consuming local gastronomy improve visitors’ destination image, place attachment, and revisit intention.

6. Conclusion, implications, and limitation

In the contemporary global tourism and hospitality sector, gastronomy no longer plays a supportive role. Instead, gastronomic-related tourism has emerged as a crucial tourism segment, attracting millions of international visitors, and making significant socio-economic contributions to tourist destinations. Particularly, food and dining experiences have fundamental destination marketing and branding implications. Moreover, gastronomy tourism is evolving as an expanding academic research frontier, where more future in-depth and comprehensive studies are needed regarding the successful growth of the sector. Gastronomy is inextricably linked to destinations’ geography and culture, which creates a memorable holiday experience and a lasting destination image and memory. Subsequently, food constitutes a central part of visitors’ experiences and has the power to influence their intention to return and refer a destination to others. Food is the only common tourism product that every visitor to a destination consumes, regardless of travel purposes or tourist typologies (Prat Forga & Cànoves Valiente, 2012). This is further solidified in the current study, as 87% of the respondents verified that they consider gastronomy to be one of the decisive factors when they choose their holiday destinations.

Theoretically, the findings of this research add to the current body of knowledge regarding the impacts of gastronomy in determining visitors’ destination choices. Furthermore, the findings expose the extent to which gastronomy influences holidaymakers’ destination choices. From a socio-demographic standpoint, findings reveal that, especially for Asians and Africans, gastronomy plays a crucial role in determining their holiday destination choice and holiday experience compared to Europeans, Americans, and other tourists. Nevertheless, due to the rise of multicultural societies and the increasing awareness of health issues in relation to food consumption (clean vis-a-vis impure food), gastronomy nowadays has become vital for almost every visitor, irrespective of visitors’ socio-demographic variations.

Practically, research findings would be instrumental for the various destination stakeholders who have direct or indirect links with gastronomy-related tourism. Especially destinations that strive to develop and promote gastronomic-oriented tourism might find the insights reported in this study crucial in terms of identifying the fundamental attributes of gastronomy that create a perpetual destination image and how visitors relate gastronomy with holiday destinations. This is because, unlike other types of tourism products, destinations’ gastronomy has multiple attributes such as ambiance, taste, smell, presentation, service quality, farm tours, and cooking demonstrations, among others, all of which are interconnected to memory, experience, and image. Therefore, gastronomy enormously influences holidaymakers’ destination choices, in addition to enhancing their holiday experiences, as the following participant underlines. ”Since food is connected to the culture of natives in the area, it stands a 65% chance of affecting my entire holiday, and it adds a special spice to my entire holiday experience.” Considering this, gastronomy provides a wide spectrum of advantages for tourist destinations and travelers alike. Especially, destinations that have unique gastronomic products should work in tandem with all pertinent actors in the gastronomy value chain and take advantage of their resources to satisfy visitor demands, on the one hand, and (re)brand their place as a competitive gastronomic niche destination, on the other hand.

Future studies should investigate matters related to food safety and hygiene, especially in the post-pandemic era. Several participants also underscore that in various tourist destinations, thus far, gastronomy has been taken for granted. Hence, academic studies should put more effort to magnify gastronomy as a core tourism product and explore ways in which the sector contributes to local economic development. In a similar vein, the concept of destination product development should be redefined to broadly encompass dining as a profound element, especially in the context of developing countries.

Correction

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Acknowledgments

The authors appreciate all research participants who were generous enough to offer us their insights, perspectives, and precious time in favour of our survey. Furthermore, we acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their time and critical yet constructive comments that improve the standard of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amare Wondirad

Amare Wondirad is a Senior Lecturer at The University of the South Pacific, Fiji. He has also served as an Assistant Professor at Woosong University, Korea, and Hawassa University, Ethiopia. Dr. Wondirad’s research and teaching interests are in the areas of ecotourism, sustainable tourism, community-based tourism, and culinary tourism. His research papers appeared in top-tier journals including Tourism Management, Current Issues in Tourism, Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, and Journal of Asia Pacific Tourism Research. His conference paper titled ‘Who benefits from the ecotourism sector in southern Ethiopia?’ received the Best Conference Paper Award at a prestigious international conference in Korea in 2017 and one of his journal publications was selected as the Best Article of the Year 2020 by Tourism Recreation Research.

Gabrielle Verheye

Gabrielle Verheye is currently working as a French Teacher at the Alliance Francaise de Bogota. She holds a double master’s degree in Tourism Management and Linguistics. Her research interests are in creative tourism, indigenous tourism, didactics, and sociolinguistics. Gabrielle has also been involved in innovative ecotourism projects in Colombia.

Appendix 1.

Respondents by country of origin

Table

No	Country	No. of participants
1	Ethiopia	43
2	Indonesia	23
3	Fiji	23
4	Uzbekistan	15
5	South Korea	14
6	China	14
7	India	7
8	Nepal	4
9	Nigeria	4
10	Solomon Islands	4
11	Vanuatu	3
12	France	3
13	Italy	3
14	Mexico	3
15	New Zealand	3
16	Thailand	3
17	Greece	3
18	Colombia	2
19	Philippines	2
20	Ghana	2
21	Tajikistan	2
22	USA	2
23	Vietnam	1
24	Zambia	1
25	Tonga	1
26	Australia	1
27	Bangladesh	1
28	Belgium	1
29	Honduras	1
30	Ireland	1
31	Japan	1
32	Latvia	1
33	Lebanon	1
34	Malawi	1
35	Malaysia	1
36	Poland	1
37	Portugal	1
38	Russia	1
39	Saudi Arabia	1
40	Serbia	1
41	Seychelles	1
42	South Africa	1
43	Spain	1
44	Sweden	1
45	Switzerland	1
46	Total	205