Food tourism: cooking holiday experiences in East Asia

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate how the “cooking holiday” concept can be used by tourism authorities and practitioners and, to that end, proposes a hierarchical framework for improving culinary tourism. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted the Delphi method to filter and verify the criteria, thereby constructing a hierarchical framework of cooking holidays in Taiwan. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was also applied to calculate the relative weight of each attribute and criterion, thus identifying their degrees of importance. Findings Four attributes (“local food,” “food trail,” “cooking experience” and “environment and atmosphere”) and 22 criteria were identified to comprise a cooking holiday experience framework. Research findings reveal “cooking experience” as the most crucial of the four attributes identified. Of the more numerous criteria, “ingredients with integrity,” “local features” and “diverse curriculum” were identified as the three most important. Research limitations/implications The hierarchical framework of cooking holiday experiences can be used by tourism authorities and practitioners to enhance experiential quality for tourists and promote culinary tourism in Taiwan. According to the research findings, cooking class participants can concentrate on the “cooking experience” while emphasizing “ingredients with integrity,” “local features” and “diverse curricula” in the context of cooking holidays. Originality/value This study offers valuable insights and suggests directions for future research on culinary tourism. This study also offers a framework for developing cooking holidays.