Gastronomic experience (co)creation: evidence from Taiwan and Catalonia

ABSTRACT

The design of gastronomic experiences based on consumer opinion (co-creation) can contribute to improving the online gastronomic image and the overall image of destinations. By evaluating and sharing their experience on social media, the visitor expresses different levels of satisfaction and loyalty towards the destination. This user-generated content (UGC) represents useful information for analysing the perception of gastronomic experiences and the formation of online gastronomic images. The semiotic model used here considers three semantic aspects of the gastronomic image to analyse gastronomic experiences through big data analytics. The model was applied to two regions with different gastronomic cultures: Taiwan (Asia) and Catalonia (Europe) and four types of experiences. A total of 17,214 online travel reviews (OTRs) from 2008 to 2019 were selected from TripAdvisor’s ‘things to do’ section, which includes various tours and gastronomic activities that are different from typical dining experiences in restaurants. The results highlight the growth of OTRs before the COVID-19 pandemic, the high satisfaction of the participants in the reviewed activities, and differences in popularity and attractiveness according to activity, category and region. The findings also showcase notable differences in destination branding and marketing strategies between the regions.

KEYWORDS:

• Gastronomic experience
• gastronomic image
• semiotic aspect
• big data analytics
• Taiwan
• Catalonia

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under [Grant id.: ECO2017-88984-R] within the TURCOLAB project.

Notes on contributors

Min-Pei Lin

Min-Pei Lin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; a Master in Tourism Innovation Management; and a Master in Tourism Management of Culinary and Gastronomic Heritage, CETT – University of Barcelona (UB). Now is a PhD candidate of a doctoral programme in Social Science Education at University of Lleida (UdL), Catalonia, Spain.

Estela Marine-Roig

Estela Marine-Roig is a Senior Lecturer of Tourism Marketing at the University of Lleida (UdL), Catalonia, and an Assistant Professor of Social Media and Smart Tourism (MSc) at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). She holds a European PhD in Tourism and Leisure. The Catalan Government awarded her the 2018 Medal of Tourism for the best knowledge and research project. Her research interests include the analysis of tourist destination images through online sources.

Nayra Llonch-Molina

Nayra Llonch-Molina is a Senior Lecturer of Didactics of Social Sciences at the University of Lleida (UdL), Catalonia, and Research Advisor at CETT – Barcelona School in Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy. Master in Tourism and Educational Mediation of Cultural and Natural Heritage from CETT, she holds a European PhD in Didactics of Social Sciences and Heritage from University of Barcelona (UB). Her research interests include cultural tourism management based on intangible heritage.