Gastronomy allows tourists to discover the cultural roots of the destination, thus being one of the motivations for its choice and even becoming a fundamental factor in the analysis of the overall satisfaction of the tourist experience. This research is focused on the analysis of the gastronomic experiences of foreign tourists who visit the city of Oruro (Bolivia). The main results of this research show a segmentation of travellers on the basis of their perceptions regarding the gastronomic experiences in this city into three different groups (survivors, enjoyers, and experiencers). Additionally, the study concludes that these gastronomic experiences are highly related to the motivations that the travellers have to discover a specific destination, and that their level of satisfaction with these experiences is highly connected to the relationship that gastronomy has with the cultural heritage of the local community.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to characterize the international tourists who visit a cultural event, such as the Oruro Carnival (Bolivia), that is catalogued as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
Design/methodology/approach
To achieve this purpose, a segmentation is made based on the combination of two theoretical models used and contrasted in similar research: the model of McKercher (2002), based on the cultural motivations to go to a destination, and that of Poria et al. (2003), based on the emotional perception of the visitor in relation to the heritage they visit.
Findings
Four types of tourists are thus identified: alternative, cultural, emotional and patrimonial. Likewise, the research includes an assessment of the most relevant tourist attributes linked to the Oruro Carnival, which is much more positive among international tourists with greater cultural motivation and emotional bonding.
Originality/value
The principal originality factor and innovation is analysing the cultural motivations and the emotional perception of the visitor in relation to the heritage they visit.
The continuous dynamism that tourism suffers makes the motivations of tourists change, making them search for new experiences. In this sense, gastronomy is positioned as a key element of union between tourism and culture, thus developing gastronomic tourism. The analysis presented here will address gastronomic motivations and their influence on the value perceived by foreign tourists in Oruro (Bolivia), based on a total sample of 370 and through a covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM). Among the main results, it is worth highlighting the positive influence of gastronomic motivations on the value perceived by tourists. These results are also very useful for public and/or private entities for the creation of new strategies to promote local gastronomy.
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