Investigations on Food Tourism in India

Abstract

Tourism is vital to the Indian economy, contributing significantly to employment, foreign exchange earnings, and overall economic growth. India attracts millions of domestic and international travelers annually as one of the world's most diverse and culturally rich nations. With tourism contributing around 7% to India's GDP and supporting millions of livelihoods, it remains a crucial pillar of the nation's economic development. Tourism has developed beyond just attractions among the new-age tourists. Newer experiences are being developed to attract these rising segments of tourists. Stakeholders strive to focus on niche tourists by providing them with unique and memorable experiences that will enhance the destination's brand and increase the tourists' revisit and loyalty intentions. With the emergence of the middle class in emerging economies like Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, demand for new and better-quality products and services has emerged. This study focuses on one such niche, understanding tourist behaviours in ‘food tourism’ and its role in promoting destination loyalty. Food tourism research in India is limited and focused mainly on evaluating various facets of tourist experiences, but it does not evaluate the complete experience of a tourist visiting a destination. Against this backdrop, this study evaluates the food tourism experiences of tourists in the pre-travel, during-travel, and post-travel stages, providing a holistic understanding of the behaviors. The study investigates three research objectives to address the research gaps. First, identifying factors of the food tourist behavioral model and exploring tourist clusters; second, investigating different behavior patterns among tourists visiting destinations; finally, empirically validating the food tourist behavioral model. The significant findings from the analysis are as follows: • The cluster analysis revealed three clusters derived based on tourists’ interest in food, which were named survivors, enjoyers, and experiencers. Based on tourist food satisfaction, three distinct clusters were identified, namely Highly Satisfied Tourists (HST), Satisfied Tourists (ST), and Less Satisfied Tourists (LST). No significant differences were found in the memorable food experiences, food satisfaction, and behavioral intentions of first-visit and repeat-visit tourists. Similarly, results indicated no significant differences in the behaviors of tourists visiting inland and coastal destinations. • Results indicated that individuals with a strong interest in food actively seek culinary-related information when planning their travels. They are likely to engage with local culinary offerings, have lasting culinary memories, have greater satisfaction, and are inclined to revisit destinations or recommend them based on their culinary experiences. The role of information sourcing in facilitating tourist engagement with local food was also significant. Food experiences enunciate positive memories, enhance satisfaction, and create positive revisit intentions among tourists. Food neophobia is critical in shaping individuals' culinary preferences and willingness to explore novel food experiences during travel. • Significant differences were found in the behaviors of demographic groups based on gender, age, marital status, educational qualification, and income, which were evaluated by applying Multi-Group Analysis. • The Importance Performance Analysis (IPMA) results indicated that, in predicting tourist behavioral intentions, the importance and performance of local food experiences were the highest, and food neophobia negatively affected the behavioral intentions. The thesis explores these and other significant results for their policy implications. The study results and the tourist behavioral model can be of interest to stakeholders and destination marketers to understand the factors affecting tourists' behaviors and develop appropriate strategies to target different tourists and market the destination effectively. Thus, overall, the study evaluated domestic tourist behaviors in the context of developing economies like India, contributing to food tourism literature.