![Sample our Museum and Heritage Studies journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5945/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Museum-Heritage-Studies.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
A growing number of individuals in contemporary society follow a plant-based diet due to discourse and debates around the environmental impacts, the treatment of animals and health-related issues associated with animal agriculture. At the same time, food is regarded as a gateway to experience authentic elements of local cultures, traditions and heritage. This raises questions about the influence that plant-based diets that strictly exclude all forms of produce derived from animals exerts on the tourist’s destination image development process. Current studies on destination image argue that these images can be framed from the cognitive (knowledge), affective (emotional) and conative (behavioural) perspectives. Hence, this research aims to understand how following a plant-based diet for environmental, ethical and health reasons influences tourists’ destination images from the cognitive, affective and conative dimensions. To this end, a qualitative social constructivist approach was adopted and 20 semi-structured interviews with tourists who follow strict plant-based diets were conducted using a combination of a simple random sample and a snowball sampling approach. Findings indicate that these diets stimulate destination images of social belonging (affective), images off-the-beaten-track (conative), images of cosmopolitanism (cognitive) and images of emotional solidarity (conative) rooted in these tourists’ personal normative beliefs.
GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Adrian Guachalla
Adrian Guachalla holds a PhD in Tourism Management awarded by the University of Westminster. His Doctoral research focused on the role of the Royal Opera House in cultural tourism development in Covent Garden, where he also gathered his industrial experience working in hospitality services. He is a Senior Lecturer in Aviation and Tourism at Buckinghamshire New University and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK. His research and teaching interests include urban cultural tourism, culture-led urban and social regeneration, cultural quarters, cultural flagship developments and ethical practices in culinary tourism/hospitality operations.