tourism hospitality and food studies

Features, drivers, and outcomes of food tourism

British Food Journal

ISSN : 0007-070X

Article publication date: 14 January 2022

Issue publication date: 14 January 2022

Mariani, M. and Okumus, B. (2022), "Features, drivers, and outcomes of food tourism", British Food Journal , Vol. 124 No. 2, pp. 401-405. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-02-2022-022

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

Introduction

Food is increasingly becoming a central aspect in staging memorable experiences within the tourism and hospitality sector ( Kunasegaran et al. , 2019 ; de Albuquerque Meneguel et al. , 2019 ; Cetin et al ., 2019 ), and it is a major motivation for traveling ( Okumus et al. , 2021 ; Chang et al. , 2020 ). Food is therefore important for at least three different sets of reasons. First, it can be a major pull factor to a tourism destination ( Su et al. , 2020 ) and the major travel motivation as travelers might be attracted by a specific cuisine ( Robinson et al. , 2018 ) whose authenticity could depends critically on the place where the food is produced ( Kim et al. , 2019 ) and those producing it. Accordingly, the cultural, religious and psychological drivers and motivations of food tourism consumption have been only partially covered by extant literature (e.g. Lai et al. , 2019 ; Yeap et al. , 2019 ) and need to be investigated in more depth by means of empirical studies leveraging both small and big data about travelers and tourists ( Mariani et al. , 2018 ; Mariani and Baggio, 2021 ). Second, while food is certainly about gastronomic products, it is also about processes and about innovation of gastronomic products and processes that rests on knowledge, craftsmanship and traditions ( de Albuquerque Meneguel et al. , 2019 ). New cooking techniques, science of cooking and molecular gastronomy gradually inspire daily cooking activities and haute cuisine techniques attract more adventure travelers globally. Increasingly food has been included in tourism services and experiences in an ubiquitous way ( McKercher et al. , 2008 ) and in light of the most recent technological advancements in services ( Mariani and Borghi, 2019 ). As such, it is critical to understand what features of food products and production processes are functional for tourism firms to create or co-create with tourists compelling tourism experiences. Third, food tourism is gradually more important for tourism destinations to enhance their competitiveness, economic performance, attractiveness, and for their place/destination marketing ( Okumus et al. , 2007 ) and branding ( Lai et al. , 2018 ) strategies. As such, the mechanisms that allow food tourism to make a difference in terms of competitiveness and appeal need further investigation as well as factors pertaining to sustainability ( Everett and Slocum, 2013 ). Overall, this Special Issue aimed at shedding more light on the characteristics, drivers and outcomes of food tourism. We particularly welcomed empirical studies addressing a variety of topics in food tourism and adopting qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods.

Hopefully, this will be a well-cited issue as food tourism is increasingly covered by major travel, tourism and hospitality journals. This topic is currently covered in a very fragmented way as food tourism research is relatively novel and only around 300 journal articles have been published on the topic scattered across many disciplines. However, what is missing is a collection of cutting hedge research shedding light on the features, drivers and outcomes of food tourism to build an overarching framework around the phenomenon. In this Special Issue, the contributing authors explore the Features, Drivers and Outcomes of Food Tourism and explain how food tourism can help destinations as well as tourism, hospitality and foodservice industries to overcome a number of challenges.

An overview on papers in this special issue

This special issue contains eleven scientific articles that cover a broad range of issues, topics and initiatives in Food Tourism including sustainability, creativity, food tourism experiences, local cuisines, diaspora marketing, food festivals, street food consumption, online marketing and health hazards. These articles have adopted various methodological approches using different methods such as customer surveys, manager surveys, experimental designs, text mining, content analysis, case studies and some innovative statistical analytic techniques. We are happy to provide this rich and varied collection to scholars and peers in our field.

In the article titled “ Motivations, self-congruity and restaurant innovativeness as antecedents of a creative-food tourism experience: the moderating effect of first-time and repeat tourists ” Gomez-Rico et al. (2022) analyzed the drivers of a creative food tourism experience (CFTE) and its effect on the tourists' perceived authenticity and satisfaction. Data were obtained about 407 food tourists who traveled to visit a creative restaurant, and subsequently analyzed using structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results confirm the relevance of emotional and social motivations to enjoy a CFTE and the need to align the target tourists' self-concept and restaurant positioning. Restaurant innovativeness was found to be the most vital driver of CFTE, which suggests that entrepreneurship in gastronomy is critical to boosting food tourism.

The article titled “ Not just food: Exploring the influence of food blog engagement on intention to taste and to visit” by Mainolfi et al . (2022) examined the effect of several factors such as perceived enjoyment, blogger credibility and homophily on readers' engagement with food blogs, as well as the influence of blog engagement on intentions to follow blogger's recommendations. Based on an online survey with a sample of 821 blog readers (Italian and American), the authors proposed and tested a model deploying structural equation modeling. They found that perceived enjoyment and homophily significantly impact on blog engagement, which, in turn, positively influences both intention to taste and visit. Furthermore, blogger credibility does not influence blog engagement.

In the article titled “ Addressing sustainable food management in hotels: proposing a framework and examining hotel groups ” Ruiz Molina et al. (2022) investigated sustainable food management in hotels, taking into account the various facets of the food supply chain. For this purpose, several dimensions were proposed for dealing with sustainable food management, involving all aspects of food supply chains that may be relevant for hotel decision-making. Results confirmed that the quality and the quantity of the information provided by hotels are limited and that hotel managers and users neglect a number of aspects of sustainable food management identified in the framework.

The article titled “ Searching memories of pleasures in local cuisine: how nostalgia and hedonic values affect tourists' behavior at hot spring destinations?” by Lin et al . (2022) developed a causal relationship model of nostalgia, hedonic values and tourists' intentions for local cuisine in historic hot springs. For data analysis, the authors used the purposive sampling model and surveyed three hundred and fifteen Taiwanese tourists visiting the Beitou Hot Spring, Taiwan. Covariance-based structural equation modeling was used to find that higher levels of tourists' perceived nostalgia are associated with stronger perceived hedonic values based on dining experiences. Tourists' perceived hedonic values mediate the relationships between nostalgia and tourists' intentions for local cuisine.

In the article titled “ Food tourism: opportunities for SMEs through diaspora marketing? ” Bowen (2022) investigated the impact of the diaspora effect on food tourism. The author used mixed methods to develop a deeper understanding of diaspora effects on food tourism using online survey of 169 food producers, with 37 follow-up interviews in Wales and Brittany. Results confirmed that two avenues for diaspora tourism are available, either through engaging with diaspora networks, such as expatriate networks located outside the country of origin, or through the reverse diaspora effect, of visitors experiencing products and then seeking to purchase them once returned to their countries.

The article titled “ Profiling food festivals by type, name and descriptive content: a population level study ” by Kesgin et al . (2022) classified and described food festivals and examined the patterns in food festival naming and festival descriptions in online media. The study represents the first population-level empirical examination of food festivals in the United States using a purpose-built dataset ( N  = 2,626) and builds on text mining techniques to examine food festival communications. Findings identified the festival forms, styles, functions and their diversity serving as a foundation for future scholarly work.

In the article titled “ Application of the extended theory of planned behavior to street-food consumption: testing the effect of food neophobia among Indian consumers, ” Nagar et al. (2022) examined how food neophobia, perceived risk and word of mouth about street food vendors affect tourists' attitude and intention to consume street food. The authors collected data collected from 445 tourists from the Indian urban center of Jammu and analyzed them by leveraging structural equation modeling (SEM). The study found that word of mouth about street food vendors positively and significantly influenced tourists' attitudes and intention to consume street food, while food neophobia led to negative attitude and intention to consume street food.

The article by Bigi et al. (2022) titled “ Who killed food tourism? Unaware cannibalism in online conversations about traveling in Italy ” addressed the online representation gap of destinations, focusing on Italy, for which official destination promotion materials, tourist guides and web influencers indicate food and wine as crucial drivers to attract visitors. For this purpose, content analysis based on a Bayesian machine-learning technique utilizing Leximancer software was applied to analyze questions and answers posted on TripAdvisor forums by potential and past visitors of four destinations in Italy (Naples, Florence, Parma and Ferrara). Surprisingly the authors found that food-related themes were almost completely absent in the conversations analyzed, suggesting that food-related attributes are diminished compared to less sensorial and memorable aspects of the travel experience.

In the article titled “ Defining risk reduction strategies for tourists with specific food needs: a qualitative approach, ” Moraleda et al . (2022) identified the main risk reduction strategies when individuals suffer from coeliac disease (CD) or non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) travel. A qualitative approach based on thematic analysis was adopted. The results of 32 semi-structured interviews confirmed the high level of consensus on the main food risk reducers which can be listed as travel information, staff training in safety assurance, legislation and risk prevention protocols. The findings also suggest that information offered by restaurants, organizations and tourist destinations lack details about risks for the specific segment of tourists analyzed.

The article titled “ Seafood festivals for local development in Italy and Sweden ” by Pizzichini et al. (2022) focused on festivals taking place in coastal regions whose central element is seafood. Qualitative exploratory case studies of seafood festivals in Italy and Sweden were performed using an analytical model and the findings showed the close relationship between seafood and tourism. The authors suggest that, although the aforementioned relationship takes variable forms, food is a fundamental lever for maritime and coastal tourism and local development.

In the article titled “ The impact of COVID-19 on destination visit intention and local food consumption,” Dedeoglu et al. (2022) examined the impact of potential Chinese tourists' local food consumption motivation on their intention to consume local food. Moreover, they also examined the impact of those intentions on their tendency to visit that destination. Data obtained from 264 Chinese respondents for Italian food, and 277 Chinese respondents for Thai food were analyzed utilizing PLS structural equation modeling. The authors found that tourists' risk perceptions of COVID-19 negatively moderate the effect of cultural experience and novelty on the intention to consume Italian food but tourists' risk perceptions on Thai food have a diminishing effect on all motivation factors.

Concluding remarks

This special issue attracted a large number of high-quality submissions from scholars interested in food tourism and hospitality across many countries. This witnesses a growing scholarly “appetite” for food tourism to use a wordplay. The articles in this special issue covered theoretical and practical issues pertaining to food tourism, travelers' food consumption, health concerns of tourists, and organizational design of destinations using food as an attraction. The papers also display a variety of methodological approaches, including qualitative methods leveraging on interviews and case studies, quantitative approaches leveraging surveys, experiments, and content analysis, and mixed method approaches combining surveys and interviews. The papers represent contributions from all over the world including USA, UK, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, India, Turkey and China. Together, they show that food is a global resource and central aspect in staging memorable and engaging experiences for travelers during their visits the destinations.

We would like to thank all the authors who responded to the call for papers. Competition for the SI was very high, and therefore the review process was extremely selective. We are particularly grateful to the authors of the papers in the special issue and to the many anonymous reviewers who provided constructive suggestions, valuable time and feedback.

Finally, we do believe that the articles included in this special issue will be well-received by scholars, students, as well as practitioners and managers. More specifically, the studies presented in this special issue emphasized the importance of developing further the scholarly debate on food tourism and food service research across multiple disciplines. We hope that the articles in this special issue will encourage more researchers to join the scholarly debate on the fascinating and innovative research area of food tourism. Last, we believe that several of the practical implications stemming from the studies might support the decision-making of tourism and hospitality managers, entrepreneurs, and marketers to see, seize and exploit the opportunities brought about by food in the tourism and hospitality industries, as well as other related sectors.

Cetin , G. , Okumus , B. and Alrawadieh , Z. ( 2019 ), “ The role of local gastronomy in destination marketing ”, Experiential Consumption and Marketing in Tourism Within a Cross-Cultural Context , p. 195 .

Chang , J. , Okumus , B. , Wang , C.H. and Chiu , C.Y. ( 2020 ), “ Food tourism: cooking holiday experiences in East Asia ”, Tourism Review , Vol. 76 No. 5 , pp. 1067 - 1083 .

de Albuquerque Meneguel , C.R. , Mundet , L. and Aulet , S. ( 2019 ), “ The role of a high-quality restaurant in stimulating the creation and development of gastronomy tourism ”, International Journal of Hospitality Management , Vol. 83 , pp. 220 - 228 .

Everett , S. and Slocum , S.L. ( 2013 ), “ Food and tourism: an effective partnership? A UK-based review ”, Journal of Sustainable Tourism , Vol. 21 No. 6 , pp. 789 - 809 .

Kim , S. , Park , E. and Lamb , D. ( 2019 ), “ Extraordinary or ordinary? Food tourism motivations of Japanese domestic noodle tourists ”, Tourism Management Perspectives , Vol. 29 , pp. 176 - 186 .

Kunasegaran , M. , Rasoolimanesh , S.M. and Khan , S.K. ( 2019 ), “ Experiences of international tourists with healthy signature foods: a case study in Malacca ”, British Food Journal , Vol. 122 No. 6 , pp. 1869 - 1882 .

Lai , M.Y. , Khoo-Lattimore , C. and Wang , Y. ( 2018 ), “ A perception gap investigation into food and cuisine image attributes for destination branding from the host perspective: the case of Australia ”, Tourism Management , Vol. 69 , pp. 579 - 595 .

Lai , M.Y. , Khoo-Lattimore , C. and Wang , Y. ( 2019 ), “ Food and cuisine image in destination branding: toward a conceptual model ”, Tourism and Hospitality Research , Vol. 19 No. 2 , pp. 238 - 251 .

Mariani , M. and Borghi , M. ( 2019 ), “ Industry 4.0: a bibliometric review of its managerial intellectual structure and potential evolution in the service industries ”, Technological Forecasting and Social Change , Vol. 149 , p. 119752 .

Mariani , M. and Baggio , R. ( 2021 ), “ Big data and analytics in hospitality and tourism: a systematic literature review ”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management . doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-03-2021-0301 .

Mariani , M. , Baggio , R. , Fuchs , M. and Höepken , W. ( 2018 ), “ Business intelligence and big data in hospitality and tourism: a systematic literature review ”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management , Vol. 30 No. 12 , pp. 3514 - 3554 .

McKercher , B. , Okumus , F. and Okumus , B. ( 2008 ), “ Food tourism as a viable market segment: it's all how you cook the numbers ”, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing , Vol. 25 No. 2 , pp. 137 - 148 .

Okumus , B. , Okumus , F. and McKercher , B. ( 2007 ), “ Incorporating local and international cuisines in the marketing of tourism destinations: the cases of Hong Kong and Turkey ”, Tourism Management , Vol. 28 No. 1 , pp. 253 - 261 .

Okumus , B. , Mehraliyev , F. , Ma , F. and Köseoglu , M.A. ( 2021 ), “ Intellectual connections in food tourism literature: a co‐citation approach ”, International Journal of Tourism Research , Vol. 23 No. 2 , pp. 220 - 237 .

Robinson , R.N. , Getz , D. and Dolnicar , S. ( 2018 ), “ Food tourism subsegments: a data‐driven analysis ”, International Journal of Tourism Research , Vol. 20 No. 3 , pp. 367 - 377 .

Su , D.N. , Johnson , L.W. and O'Mahony , B. ( 2020 ), “ Analysis of push and pull factors in food travel motivation ”, Current Issues in Tourism , Vol. 23 No. 5 , pp. 572 - 586 .

Yeap , J.A. , Ong , K.S.G. , Yapp , E.H. and Ooi , S.K. ( 2019 ), “ Hungry for more: understanding young domestic travellers' return for Penang street food ”, British Food Journal , Vol. 122 No. 6 , pp. 1935 - 1952 .

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MASTER Tourisme | parcours Tourism, Hospitality and Food Studies (THFS)

Informations générales.

• Formation initiale

Débouchés professionnels

This "Tourism, Hospitality and Food Studies - THFS" master's program is available in the framework of both initial and continuing training on the Toulouse campus. The Master’s degree is taught exclusively in English on the Toulouse campus. It aims at training French and international students with a corporate culture in Tourism, Hospitality and Food Studies . The objective of the Master’s programme "Tourism, Hospitality and Food Studies - THFS" is to welcome international students who do not speak French but who could follow a training at the University Toulouse Jean Jaurès. It also allows French students to take a course in English and to gain the key attributes to work abroad and to step into an international career. This training also offers a diversity of publics as it enables culturally heterogeneous classes to be created. Beyond its international and cultural dimension, this Master’s degree allows to gain and/or to strengthen the necessary skills in the development of an international career in the three professional sectors tackled in the different ISTHIA trainings: Tourism, Hospitality and Food Studies . According to the majors in initial training of the recruited Bachelor’s students, this degree provides the necessary knowledge to develop a strong professional culture in the three fields mentioned above, as well as more advanced and detailed skills in the specialization chosen by the students. This Master’s degree allows to develop several management skills, particularly in the development of corporate strategies, in communication, decision-making and organization. It also trains students in human resources and financial management. This training tackles research, surveys, and data analysis and processing. The students are also trained in project management (planning, defining objectives and communicating) and are put in the position of consultants.

Compétences visées

• developing corporate strategy
• organizing and controlling the execution of tasks
• managing human resources
• using financial documents
• conduct surveys
• process and analyze data
• define objectives
• communicate orally and in writing
• express oneself in English

Niveau de recrutement : Bac + 3

Formation(s) requise(s)

Entry requirements, conditions d'admission.

• Master 1 : Mon Master
• Master 2 : eCandidat
• Non-European students may apply on Études en France
• The people who do not hold any of the degrees listed above but who have worked in the tourism sector will be invited to apply for the validation of their qualifications (French NVQ scheme, decree of August 23rd 1985) by a jury of professionals and university lecturers. Submit your request  to the service de la formation continue

UE 701 - HT90701T World cultures UE 702 - HT90702T Marketing UE 703 - HT90703T Anthropology and Sociology of Food UE 704 - HT90704T Research methodology UE 705 - HT90705T Operating Management in Hospitality UE 706 - HT90706T French culture

UE 801 - HT90801T Dissertation and Internship UE 802 - HT90802T Applied Human and Social Sciences UE 803 - HT90803T Tourism Engineering UE 804 - HT90804T Research methodology 1 UE 805 - HT90805T Operating Management in Hospitality UE 806 - HT90806T French culture

UE 901 - HT90901T Tourism Management UE 902 - HT90902T Hospitality and Foodservice Management UE 903 - HT90903T Anthropology and Sociology of Food UE 904 - HT90904T Research methodology UE 905 - HT90905T Quality management UE 906 - HT90906T French culture 2

Semestre 10

UE 1001 - HT90111T Dissertation and Internship UE 1002 - HT90112T Professionnal Communication UE 1003 - HT90113T Professionalisation UE 1004 - HT90114T French Gastronomy

Modalités d'évaluation

Voir les modalités

Prospective careers

• international integrated or independent hotel businesses,
• international consulting companies,
• international agribusinesses,
• out-of-home catering industries.
• Hotel manager
• Hospitality or Catering manager
• Project manager
• Product manager
• Food critic

Responsables pédagogiques

• Master 1 | Frédéric ZANCANARO | [email protected]
• Master 2 | Cyrille LAPORTE | [email protected]

Contacts administratifs

Administrative officer | [email protected] Formation Continue ISTHIA | Neneh Li T’HOOFT | [email protected] | 05 61 02 19 54

Dans la même rubrique

Composante(s), statistiques.

Portail national des masters

Fiche de présentation

Les autres parcours de la mention

• Management et Ingénierie du Tourisme (MIT)
• Management en Hôtellerie Restauration (MHR)
• TIC appliquées au développement des territoires touristiques (TIC ADTT)
• Tourisme et Développement (TD)

School of Tourism, Hospitality Management and Food Studies

Master tourism, hospitality and food studies (thfs), master tourism, hospitality and food studies.

• Presentation

It aims at training French and international students with a corporate culture in Tourism, Hospitality and Food Studies . The second year comprises a specialization in one of those three fields. The objective of this Master’s program is to welcome international students who do not speak French but who could follow a training at the University Toulouse Jean Jaurès. It also allows French students to take a course in English and to gain the key attributes to work abroad and to step into an international career. This training also offers a diversity of publics as it enables culturally heterogeneous classes to be created.

Toulouse campus

Master's degree, initial and continuing training.

• Entry requirements
• Prospective careers

The Master’s degree in Tourism, Hospitality and Food Studies (THFS) is taught exclusively in English on the Toulouse campus.

It aims at training French and international students with a corporate culture in Tourism, Hospitality and Food Studies. The second year comprises a specialization in one of those three fields.

The objective of this Master’s program is to welcome international students who do not speak French but who could follow a training at the University Toulouse Jean Jaurès. It also allows French students to take a course in English and to gain the key attributes to work abroad and to step into an international career. This training also offers a diversity of publics as it enables culturally heterogeneous classes to be created. Beyond its international and cultural dimension, this Master’s degree allows to gain and/or to strengthen the necessary skills in the development of an international career in the three professional sectors tackled in the different ISTHIA trainings: Tourism, Hospitality and Food Studies.

According to the majors in initial training of the recruited Bachelor’s students, this degree provides the necessary knowledge to develop a strong professional culture in the three fields mentioned above, as well as more advanced and detailed skills in the specialization chosen by the students.

This Master’s degree allows to develop several management skills, particularly in the development of corporate strategies, in communication, decision-making and organization. It also trains students in human resources and financial management. This training tackles research, surveys, and data analysis and processing. The students are also trained in project management (planning, defining objectives and communicating) and are put in the position of consultants.

Master’s degree 1: you may apply on-line on Mon Master . Master’s degree 2: you may apply on-line on eCandidat . If you need help, you can download the tutorial .

The selection is based on written application and interview.

Are eligible to the Master’s degree in Tourism, Hospitality and Food Studies the students holding a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, Social Sciences, Geography, Agribusiness, Foreign Languages, Dietetics, Nutrition, Economics and Management, Tourism, Economic and Social Administration, Management or Information and Communication, or a diploma in Nutrition, Hospitality and Catering, or Bio- Engineering.

Non-European students may apply on : https://pastel.diplomatie.gouv.fr/etudesenfrance/dyn/public/authentification/login.html

The people who do not hold any of the degrees listed above but who have worked in the tourism sector will be invited to apply for the validation of their qualifications (French NVQ scheme, decree of August 23rd 1985) by a jury of professionals and university lecturers.

(175 hours)

• UE 701 I World food cultures • UE 702 I Marketing • UE 703 I Anthropology and sociology of food • UE 704 I Research methodology: qualitative approach • UE 705 I Operating Management • UE 706 I French Culture

(200 hours)

• UE 801 I Dissertation and Internship • UE 802 I Economy, Communication, Human resources management • UE 803 I Tourism Engineering • UE 804 I Research methodology • UE 805 I Nutrition • UE 806 I French Culture

(250 hours)

• UE 901 I Anthropology and sociology of food • UE 902 I Hopitality and food service management • UE 903 I Tourism Management • UE 904 I Research methodology: quantitative approach • UE 905 I Quality management • UE 906 I French Culture

Semester 10

• UE 1001 I Dissertation and Internship • UE 1002 I Communication • UE 1003 I Research methodology • UE 1004 I Strategic marketing

Graduates may consider the following sectors of activities: international integrated or independent hotel businesses, international consulting companies, international agribusinesses, out-of-home catering industries.

Positions :

• Hotel manager
• Hospitality or Catering manager
• Project manager
• Product manager
• Food critic

Course director (Master 1): • Frédéric ZANCANARO [email protected]

Course director (Master 2): • Cyrille LAPORTE [email protected]

Coordinator: • Laura ACHOTEGUI [email protected]

Education administrator: •  Nathalie SALMON 05 61 50 41 36 [email protected]

Site de Toulouse

Campus du Mirail

5 Allées Antonio Machado, 31058 Toulouse Cedex 09

Plan du site de Toulouse

05 61 50 23 68

Site de Foix

Centre Universitaire de l'Ariège Robert Naudi

4 Rue Raoul Lafagette, 09000 Foix

Plan du site de Foix

05 61 02 19 74

Site de Cahors

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273 Av. Henri Martin, 46000 Cahors

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Tourism and Hospitality Studies

Tourism and Hospitality Studies (THS) ISSN 2948-5363 (Online) is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal on all aspects of tourism and hospitality published by RMP Publications in June and December.

Tourism and Hospitality Studies promotes and enhances research developments in the field of tourism and hospitality. The journal provides an international platform for debate and dissemination of research findings whilst also facilitating the discussion of new research areas and techniques. THS continues to add a vibrant and exciting channel for those interested in tourism and hospitality research developments.

Current Issue

Food Tourism: The Impact of Food TV Shows on Local Industries

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The widespread popularity of food television programs and related social media have impacted local industries, and have become a catalyst for the increase in food tourism. Consequently, the demand for professionals with experience in hospitality is on the rise. This increasing demand comes from various sources, including companies in the food and beverage industry as well as local and national governments that are looking to promote food tourism.

What Is Food Tourism?

Food tourism, also referred to as culinary tourism and gastronomy tourism, is engaged in by individuals who seek out culinary experiences to broaden their understanding of a culture or lifestyle while traveling. Food tourists embark on tours that not only expand their palate, but afford them the education to identify the link between food and local customs. They search for authentic culinary experiences that expose them to new tastes, textures and traditions.

From 2012 to 2018, food tourism entered the mainstream with the help of social media platforms and food television programs featuring world-renowned chefs, restaurants and events. Food tourism evolved into an experiential industry that included festivals, wine tastings and other personalized offerings, as well as the advent of food-tourism companies.

According to Robin Back of the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, food tourists “pursue activities where authentic culinary and other food and beverage-related activities are the primary motivator for travel. Such activities may include visits to local producers, restaurants, food festivals, markets, wineries, distilleries, and breweries” to embrace an authentic cultural experience. According to the WFTA, 63% of millennials search for restaurants that are socially responsible. The association also recognizes that a majority of food tourists want an “eclectic and authentic experience.” Moreover, 40% of tourists spend their money on food tourism according to the 2019 president, Roi Correa, of FIBEGA, an internationally recognized gastronomy tourism fair.

Social media is incredibly popular among millennials and Generation Z, and they utilize social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to document their experiences. In turn, marketing departments of food and beverage companies can leverage social influencers to promote their restaurants, products or food festivals. This exposure provides a mass audience for organizations that translates into profit.

According to the WFTA, the top four food-travel activities are: eating at gourmet restaurants, dining at a famous bar/restaurant, enjoying street food, and enjoying an overall remarkable dining experience. The Journal of Gastronomy Studies reports that food tourists obtain information about gastronomic destinations mostly through television programs that feature chefs and gastronomists.

TV programs are a powerful tool that have the ability to promote destinations and can influence tourists to flock to featured restaurants. As an example, the late Anthony Bourdain’s television show Parts Unknown exposed American audiences to unfamiliar places and unique culinary experiences. His program was able to connect American audiences to a country’s culture through the lens of food tourism. Another example is the Netflix cable show Chef’s Table that exposed a global audience to food as an art form.

Top Chef on Bravo is a reality competition show that pits chefs against each other. Its season 15 premiere attracted over 2 million viewers. The show has such an influence on food tourism that the media has created the term: “Top Chef Effect.” Various cooking shows on the Food Network by world-renowned chefs such as Bobby Flay, Rachael Ray and Sandra Lee continue to contribute to food tourism.

The Impact of Food Tourism on Local Communities

The impact of food tourism can be beneficial to the growth of a local economy. However, there are downsides to food tourism that can challenge a community and destroy its cultural heritage in the search for profits.

According to Back, “A growing number of destinations are promoting their cuisine as a core tourism product. This is particularly relevant to destinations with well-known cuisines as well as wine-producing regions, where fine wine and fine food frequently go hand-in-hand.” Yet, it is important that food tourism is sustainable and retains a destination’s cultural identity. Those pursuing a career in hospitality must develop the skills and knowledge to balance the benefits of food tourism while limiting its potential negative drawbacks.

• Benefits of food tourism: According to the WFTA, food tourists spend about 25% of their travel budget on food and beverages. This can mean an increase in profits for a local community as well as the local government’s budget due to the taxes imposed on the goods purchased by tourists. This rise in revenue can afford local governments the ability to invest in marketing to tourists, which in turn can boost profits for local shops, restaurants, hotels and transportation services. An increase in culinary tourism can also instill in locals cultural pride and help ensure unemployment rates remain low, especially in rural areas with low economic activity.
• Drawbacks of food tourism: Though food tourism can have many desirable effects on a local community, in some cases the negatives may outweigh the positives. For communities that are suffering from a lack of natural resources — food, water, electricity — tourism can negatively affect the lives of those in the community. Fresh water may be re-routed to crops to sustain tourists’ demand for food, while the locals’ ability to have fresh water and food can be diminished.

Some communities can face loss of cultural identity, because the local economy has transitioned to supporting the needs of tourists. Restaurants may begin to refrain from serving local cuisine and change menus to suit the culinary needs of tourists. In some cases, the influx of tourists can drive up the prices of goods and services, which forces many locals out of their communities, thus destroying a community’s unique character.

Hospitality and Food Tourism Management

To mitigate and help avoid the negative effects of food tourism, it is crucial that local governments and businesses hire knowledgeable professionals in hospitality and management positions. Food tourists want to participate in culinary experiences that embody and celebrate the heritage of local communities. Those pursuing managerial positions in hospitality and tourism have the opportunity to educate food tourists and help them enjoy a culinary-centric vacation, while also minimizing the negative impact on local communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the food-tourism industry to discover new ways of offering innovative food-tourism experiences. Now more than ever, hospitality professionals need to ensure a safe environment for tourists to experience culinary adventures. Moreover, professionals with knowledge of technology and social media can provide food tourists with the convenience of virtually exploring wineries, distilleries and culinary destinations. As food tourism continues to change, hospitality and tourism management professionals have the unique opportunity to be a critical part of an evolving industry.

Prepare for a Career in Hospitality and Tourism

Those looking for a career in food tourism would do well to pursue a college degree. The bachelor’s online restaurant management and hospitality degree programs at the University of Central Florida are designed to help students pursue careers in restaurant and foodservice management and hospitality management. UCF offers a variety of online degree options — bachelor’s, master’s and graduate certificates — as well as multiple food-centered electives.

At the graduate level, a certificate in Event Management offers students the knowledge and skill set to effectively organize private and public events. A certificate in Destination Marketing and Management prepares students to understand the economic and socio-cultural impact that tourism has on a local community. This certificate also equips students with the skills to efficiently execute marketing campaigns.

UCF’s MS in Hospitality and Tourism Management program prepares students to pursue leadership positions throughout the industry. It also teaches the skills to analyze and implement strategic marketing and financial planning to help an organization reach its financial goals.

To highlight, UCF offers a Bachelor of Science in Restaurant and Foodservice Management that prepares students with the unique opportunity to work with professors who are skilled experts in the industry. The program teaches students the managerial and business skills essential for leadership roles in the restaurant and food-service industry. The program also offers a unique opportunity for students to get hands on experience by participating in paid internships. UCF Rosen College has entered into an exclusive partnership with LongHorn Steakhouse of Darden Restaurants to offer Restaurant and Foodservice Management students a three-semester progressive internship that encompasses kitchen-operations training, dining room operations training and manager training.

Learn more about how UCF’s online hospitality degree programs can help students pursue careers in hospitality and tourism — and become the future leaders of their industry.

Online Hospitality Degrees at UCF

• Destination Marketing and Management
• Event Leadership, MS
• Event Management
• Event Management, BS
• Financial Management for the Hospitality and Tourism Industry
• Hospitality and Tourism Management, MS
• Hospitality and Tourism Technologies
• Hospitality Management, BS
• Leadership and Strategy in Hospitality and Tourism
• Lifestyle Community Management, BS
• Lodging and Restaurant Management, BS
• Travel Technology and Analytics, MS

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Post-pandemic studies in tourism and hospitality

• Introduction
• Published: 30 May 2022
• Volume 16 , pages 413–416, ( 2022 )

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• Che-Jen Su 1  

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1 Locus of COVID-related research issues

Since the spring of 2020, the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic has received academic attention from researchers across various disciplines, including tourism and hospitality. Overall, the initial focus of published studies concentrated on immediate and negative impacts of the outbreak of the pandemic on businesses and markets of tourism and hospitality. The main research concerns incorporated individuals’ risk perceptions (Zheng et al. 2020 ), civil liberty (Baum and Hai 2020 ), and crisis management of businesses (Romagosa 2020 ). The results of these studies were typically derived from sources of secondary data (World Tourism Organization 2020 ) or on the basis of behavior observed on online review platforms (Yu et al. 2021 ). These explorations contributed to the formation of critical arguments and profiles of the pandemic crisis for succeeding research. As the pandemic’s spread has been prolonged beyond our expectations, we are convinced that upcoming focuses should be proactive business measures that manage the pandemic’s impacts in the longer term, redefine business models, or reform industries for the post-pandemic era.

2 A historic event with multiple implications for industry transformation

Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, there had been a substantial amount of research on the use of technology in the tourism and hospitality industries. Outputs of this research contributed to industry innovations, such as the applications of artificial intelligence (Samara et al. 2020 ), telecommuting (Pecsek 2018 ), and virtual realities (Lyu et al. 2021 ). However, these applications and practices had not become prevailing products or models for tourists or consumers because they were deemed as supplements to traditional tourism and hospitality products/models which emphasize contacts in physical environments. The current pandemic has aroused a global demand for tourism and hospitality products that are equipped with information and communication technology (ICT) devices. In this sense, we may assume that the pandemic is stimulating the market penetration of ICT-based products or service models that already exist but have not yet been sufficiently accepted by tourism-related markets or industries. In addition, once the pandemic endures long enough for users, from either the consumption or production side, to become used to these supplements during the pandemic, it is possible that users will not revert to their previous choices and usage tendencies after the pandemic.

There are two main reasons for this speculation. First, the involuntary trial of the supplements minimized potential users’ resistance to adapt to altered circumstances during the pandemic. Users who perceive value from a trial tend to follow the model in use to solve problems afterward. On the other hand, the processes normalized during the pandemic likely increase the switching costs, such as extra effort and risk, for users who attempt to restore traditional models. Second, for businesses that supplied the supplements, the increased demand was a source of scale economies which brought about higher profitability and profit growth. For high-ICT industries, in particular, compared to the fixed costs of developing the product, the marginal costs of the product are considerably lower (Hill et al. 2014 ). The profitability shaped by low-cost structure will in turn enable firms to escalate investment in new product development, further intensifying their favorable position in the market.

There are similarities between the current situation and the revolutionary changes to human life during the early twentieth century. What we witness at present appears similar to the transformation of people’s livelihood industries in North America after World War II. Drawing on the theory of scientific management and its successful applications in manufacturing industries, such as motor vehicle assembly, supplies of food products became industrialized in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (Petrick 2012 ). To a considerable extent, the rapid rise of industrial food, which typically supplemented fresh food, was attributed to the tremendous demand for military supplies during the war. In the post-war period, by way of advanced mass media such as television commercials and new innovations, such as the microwave oven, industrial food firms persuaded consumers to adopt industrial food as their main source of food. As such, the food-industrial complex realized the diet revolution which paved the way for large-scale markets of commercially processed foods today.

3 Industrialization is a keyword for post-pandemic research

Based on the elaborations above, we assume that the role of industrialization in tourism and hospitality under reform is a promising direction for post-pandemic research in three threads. First, industrialization tends to merge fragmented operations and small-sized companies and can thus simultaneously centralize the industries of tourism and hospitality. It will add greatly to theories and practices of strategic management in tourism and hospitality if there are forthcoming endeavors exploring product development frameworks which incorporate complementary elements across industries in an integrated approach (Lee and Trimi 2018 ).

Second, an industrialized economy of tourism and hospitality suggests that human resources requirements will be very different from those in traditional industries which rely heavily on personal production/service delivery. Applications of ICT and flexible production systems, such as online ordering and delivery platforms and centralized kitchens, have simplified the operations carried out by individuals and shortened the time needed to train employees. It is therefore worth developing proactive human resources strategies in response to new challenges in the post-pandemic era.

Third, trial implementations of telecommuting policies during the pandemic have caused businesses and employees to consider normalizing work from home or work from anywhere as an alternative to the traditional working style because of mutual benefits for both employers and employees (Choudhury et al. 2021 ). It is recommended that further research be undertaken to assess the long-term effects of normalized work from home or work from anywhere on aspects of employees’ work and family life (Vaziri et al. 2020 ), which will provide tourism and hospitality industries with information needed to develop competitive products and business models for post-pandemic markets.

4 About this special issue

As the guest editor, I am pleased to introduce this compilation of articles on the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism, and hospitality. The eclectic topics and interdisciplinary methods indicate the contemporary significance of this special issue. The scope of this issue incorporates diverse facets of tourism and hospitality during the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of product, market, region, consumption behavior, human resource management, and strategy. These articles provide academic insights into, and managerial implications for, today’s turbulent environments. Therefore, they match the mission of our journal and are expected to act as a stable base from which further debates and future research will emerge. In summary, the authors of this special issue have done an excellent job and I think you all will enjoy this special issue.

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Su, CJ. Post-pandemic studies in tourism and hospitality. Serv Bus 16 , 413–416 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11628-022-00495-8

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Published : 30 May 2022

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