Current trends on food tourism approaches through a conceptual framework of food tourism management

Abstract

In recent years, food tourism has received increasing preference among tourists and attention from scholars as an alternative and significant form of tourism. At least one-third of the spending of tourist visitors to a destination is used to purchase local food and related food activities. This paper derives current trends in food tourism by identifying food tourism approaches and establishing a theoretical framework for food tourism management by considering both tourists' and stakeholders' perspectives, which could provide a more holistic approach. In addition, the work focuses on tourists' behavioural outcomes, i.e., intentions to purchase/consume, recommend and revisit, depending on whether it is a local food product or a gastronomic industry/destination. The interrelationships of the main factors such as motivations, knowledge, culture, history, authenticity, experiences, values, beliefs, emotions, desires, perceptions, satisfaction and involvement are considered. Implications and future research contributions are also discussed.