Analysis of the demand behavior of the olive oil tourism from the supply perspective

Abstract

Olive oil tourism, which is a type of special interest tourism linked to the tourism exploitation of the culture of the olive tree countryside and olive oil has begun to take off in many territories as an alternative to the strong dependence on agriculture, contributing to the development of rural areas. Olive oil tourism suppliers need information that will enable them to develop their tasks better within the tourism market. The aim of this study is to identify the characteristics of olive oil tourists, such as how they organize their trip, their motivations regarding olive oil tourism, and, inherently, to determine whether these firms implementing strategies to collect information about their visitors. Furthermore, according to the firms, the distribution of olive oil tourists is evincing the olive oil tourism potential to break the seasonality of the tourism sector in Andalusia, which is the main producing region of olive oil and, therefore, the world’s leading olive oil tourism destination.