In the tourism and hospitality industry, ensuring the well-being of visitors is essential to achieving a competitive tourist destination. This objective is even more pressing in the gastronomy sector. Surprisingly, the scientific literature on this topic is scarce and relies on questionnaire surveys and interviews as a data source. After scrutinizing the 13 articles on gastronomy tourism and well-being indexed in the Web of Science or in Scopus, this study proposes two new lines of research interrelated by the concept of gastronomic image. These exploit the content shared online by consumers in order to assess subjective well-being derived from quality gastronomic experiences. The first is a framework for the customer-perceived image based on Grönroos’s service quality model, and the second is a conceptual model based on Morris’s semiotics to measure gastronomic image. Through mixed methodologies, i.e., qualitative in the first research line and quantitative in the second, the study applies the theoretical framework to Michelin-starred restaurants in two tourist regions with similar features but with different gastronomic cultures—Taiwan (Asia) and Catalonia (Europe)—using as a data source all the online travel reviews (OTRs) written in English about these restaurants shared on the TripAdvisor portal. Comparing the three categories of restaurants in both regions, the results show branding and marketing problems and significant differences in the popularity of restaurants and the satisfaction and well-being of diners. There is a positive relationship between the category of restaurants according to the number of Michelin stars and their popularity according to the number of OTRs, as well as with the satisfaction and well-being of diners, except for a 3-star restaurant that is the worst-rated. These outcomes from the demand side can be useful to stakeholders to design or improve gastronomic products and services.

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Background Nock’s (2009) integrated theoretical model suggests that specific intrapersonal vulnerability factors caused by distal risk factors contribute to the development of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). Alexithymia and depression have been found to predict NSSI. Based on Nock’s model, alexithymia plays a distal risk factor role to increase the risk of depression—an intrapersonal vulnerability factor—and further increase the risk of NSSI. However, small or unrepresentative samples in past studies limit the generalizability of the results. This study examined the roles of depression and alexithymia in predicting NSSI, as well as the mediating effect of depression in the relation between alexithymia and NSSI in a large representative sample of adolescents in Taiwan. Methods Using a cross-sectional study design, a large representative sample of 2,170 senior high school students in Taiwan was assessed by self-report measures of alexithymia, depression, and NSSI. Mediation analyses were performed to examine whether the relation between alexithymia and NSSI was mediated by depression. The questionnaires were administered in classrooms. Results Results showed that alexithymia positively predicted NSSI (β = 0.23, p < .001) and depression can also positively predict NSSI (β = 0.41, p < .001). Additionally, the association between alexithymia and NSSI was fully mediated by depression. Conclusions This study data provided evidence for the mediating role of depression between alexithymia and NSSI, which can be explained by Nock’s (2009) integrated theoretical model. The implications of the findings for future research and intervention were discussed.

Gastronomy represents a significant part of the cultural heritage and identity of tourist destinations; however, related scientific literature is scarce. Considering these aspects within the field of tourism and hospitality, and selecting the articles written in English indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus from 2001 to 2020, the objective of this research is twofold: (1) to present a bibliometric analysis of the literature on gastronomic heritage (71 articles); and (2) to analyze some aspects (main topics, frequency of key terms, methods, and data sources) of the research on case studies in Asia and Europe (46 articles), as they are the most prominent regions on the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity (UNESCO). The study shows the temporal evolution of the literature on gastronomic heritage in parallel with UNESCO’s actions on cultural heritage. The results reveal that most articles relate gastronomic heritage to the sustainability of tourist destinations, and that European case studies address sustainability more than Asian studies do. Regarding the methodology to analyze Asian and European case studies, qualitative research predominates. Within quantitative studies, the use of online content generated by consumers and marketers as a data source is rare.