The Local Food Contribution in Revisiting a Destination: A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach

Georgios Triantafyllou; Ioulia Poulaki; Eirini Strataki

Georgios Triantafyllou Hellenic Mediterranean University
Assistant Professor Ioulia Poulaki Department of Business Administration University of the Aegean Chios, Greece
Ms. Eirini Strataki Dept of Business Administration and Tourism, School of Management and Economic Sciences Hellenic Mediterranean University, Crete – Greece

Keywords: local food, gastronomic tourism, food tourism, destination revisit, decision-making process, Crete, Greece

Abstract

Purpose: As local food is considered as the indicator of a destination’s intangible characteristics it contributes to the brand image creation that strongly affects not only decision-making process of the tourists when choosing a destination but also to their on-site experiences leading them in a new decision-making process that concern revisiting the destination or recommend it to other potential travelers. This paper aims to investigate whether tourists are primarily attracted by the local food when choosing a destination and if so, whether they revisit or recommend it.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Therefore, the Island of Crete in Greece has been chosen as a case to study. Primary research has been undertaken with online distributed questionnaires regarding the four main aspects of the local food (taste, price, serving style, satisfaction from the vendor), while the collected data were analyzed statistically performing descriptive statistics, Regression analysis and path modelling have been performed following a structural equation model (SEM) approach.

Findings: Findings indicate that there is a positive relationship between local food and destination revisit and recommendation. More specifically, gastronomic experience and food service offer, i.e., taste, price, serving style, satisfaction from the vendor affect the decision-making process of the tourists, when it comes to revisit and recommend the destination.

Practical Implications: The paper may contribute to the industry professionals in adopting appropriate strategies in order to develop their business, optimizing their food services towards a high-quality gastronomic experience, leading tourists in revisiting the destination and recommend it to other potential travelers. Moreover, destination management organizations (DMOs) may be helped by the results of this research towards destination branding formulation using local food.

Originality: The structural equation model (SEM) that has been developed in the context of this paper indicates the coefficient (significance) of each of the four aspects of the local food and thus, its significance and influence on the decision-making process of the tourist when it comes to destination revisit or recommendation.