Restaurants, gastronomy and tourists: a novel method for investigating tourists' dining out experiences.

Abstract

Arguably, gastronomy and tourism have become an integral part of lifestyle choices and some destinations because of their distinctive culinary history, e.g. Tuscany, are chosen as holiday destinations. This has become particularly important in the development of niche travel, and culinary destinations, such as Tuscany, Dalmatian Coast, Greek Islands, and Provence in Southern France, to mention a few. These destinations owe their success to their distinctive and diverse gastronomic offerings, which suggests that the uniqueness of cuisine, and of the destination's restaurants, can greatly enhance the destination's image. This study used myths present in tourists' discourse to provide insights about their dining out experiences. In particular, anthropological and linguistic concepts of myth were reviewed specifically from the tourism and foodservice literature, and interview data are presented from a number of individual tourists while on holiday in Hong Kong. Myths were most discernible in interview data, which made it possible to identify tourists' perceptions about their dining experiences. Foodservice researchers have often used an orthodox marketing research approach, through customer surveys using questionnaires, interviews and focus groups. Specifically, there is a substantial body of literature which is based upon consumer surveys in the foodservice industry, but which also largely ignores studies that do not conveniently fit this research paradigm. The present study gives attention to an alternative approach to consumer survey work in the foodservice and hospitality field, which is compared and contrasted with this original study. The study's objective was to identify areas of commonality in the way tourists' perceived and experienced gastronomy at a destination.