Exploring the multi-dimensionality of travellers' culinary-gastronomic experiences

This study explores the multifarious nature of food-related experiences on a destination. A questionnaire was designed to capture the importance of culinary experiences on destination choice and travel satisfaction as well as the dimensionality of food experiences as perceived in destination restaurants. Fixed choice and open-ended questions were asked to explore the dynamics of travellers' food experiences. First, the findings validate the importance of understanding the relationship between food and tourism. Food may trigger destination choice and contribute to perceived satisfaction. Second, the findings illustrate that the structure of travellers' food-related experiences consists of three dimensions: what is served, the restaurant environment and food-related behaviour. Third, the findings suggest that food experiences include a dynamic aspect that prolongs lived experiences. In essence, the results imply that although not all travellers search for culinary-gastronomic experiences, each traveller is most likely exposed to the influence of food and food experiences. Moreover, travellers' food experiences are multi-dimensional and influential on many levels and they hold a dynamic characteristic that deserve scholars' and marketers' attention. Hence, various marketing activities that attempt to provide travellers with positive, memorable food experiences deserve to be managed on a strategic level as means of destination branding.