Food tourism value: Investigating the factors that influence tourists to revisit

Abstract

Food consumption is an important notion in the hospitality literature. Although its role in gaining visitors’ satisfactory travel experience and in affecting tourists’ experiences of a destination is acknowledged, the impact of travelers’ local food consumption value on tourist behavior remains an underdeveloped topic. This study investigated the effect of tourists’ local food consumption value on their future behaviors by focusing on their destination food image and their attitudes toward local food. The data were collected from 891 tourists in Shiraz, Iran, through a survey-based method using structured questionnaires. Partial least square structural equation modeling was used to test the model proposed. Results indicated that taste/quality value, health value, price value, emotional value, and prestige value left a positive effect on tourist’ attitude toward local food. While destination food image did not influence the intention to visit the destination for food tourism, it positively affected the intention to recommend local food. The observations revealed marketing strategies substantially explored in the study.