Destination Encounters With Local Food: The Experience of International Visitors in Indonesia

Abstract

Increasing numbers of visitors are seeking out culinary experiences when travelling overseas. Food can enhance the destination experience, giving physiological sustenance and providing opportunities to learn about destination cultures through direct encounters with local cuisines. However, engaging with novel local food might arouse certain visitor expectations, particularly among those who have not visited previously. This study aimed to identify international visitor preconceptions of local Indonesian food and the underlying factors influencing expectations prior to their in-country experience of dining on local food. A questionnaire-based survey that was administered to 349 international visitors identified seven factors underlying their expectations: staff quality, sensory attributes, food uniqueness, local servicescapes, food authenticity, food familiarity, and food variety. A number of significantly different dining expectations were also highlighted between first-time and repeat visitors.

Culinary Experience of International Tourists in Indonesia: A Study on Denpasar and Yogyakarta Tourist Destinations

“…Furthermore, there are three main indicators constructing the culinary experience quality (CEQ), they are: the ambience of the dining place (CEQ-P2), the unique food presentation (CEQ-F5) and the local people's hospitality (CEQ-S4). This finding is in accordance with the previous studies that the three major dimensions to measure the quality of culinary experience with local food at a destination are food dimension (food uniqueness), social dimension (local people's hospitality) and place and time dimension (ambience) (Hendijani et al, 2013, Peštek and Činjarević, 2014, Wijaya et al, 2017.…”

“…The terms food tourism, gastronomy tourism, and culinary tourism have been used interchangeably and scholars have described the various terms inconsistently (Long, 2004, Ignatov and Smith, 2006, Mitchell and Hall, 2003. Wijaya et al (2017) in their study interpreted culinary tourism as a trip during which the consumption or experience of local food and beverages is expressed in various food-related activities, regardless of whether experiencing local food is or is not a primary purpose for travel.…”

“…Review of the literature has shown that there are three major dimensions to measure the quality of culinary experience with local food at a destination. These dimensions are: 1) food dimension that relates to attributes of taste, food authenticity and food uniqueness; 2) social dimension that includes the extent of which tourists could interact with the locals and experience the hospitality and distinct culture of the host; and 3) place and time dimension that refers to the physical place where the eating experience with local food take place, as well as when the eating experience occurs (Hendijani et al, 2013, Peštek and Činjarević, 2014, Wijaya et al, 2017).…”

Destination Image and Relationship: The Moderating Role of Local Cuisine Experience

“…Participants were asked to assess their brand related attitudes and behaviors on a five-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree). The measures of cognitive image (Baloglu and Mangaloglu, 2001), local cuisine experience (Wijaya, 2014), destination satisfaction, trust, and attachment (Chen & Phou, 2013) are adopted from previous studies.…”

Yerel Mutfak Deneyiminin Tüketici Temelli Destinasyon Marka Denkliğine Etkisi (The Effect of Local Cuisine Experience on Customer Based Brand Equity of Destination)

“…Anket formunda kullanılan yemek deneyiminin etkileyen faktörler (Wijaya, 2014), marka farkındalığı (Ferns ve Walls, 2012), bilişsel marka imajı (Baloglu ve Mangaloglu, 2001), duygusal marka imajı, destinasyonu tavsiye etme ve destinasyonu tekrardan ziyaret etme niyetlerini (Qu vd., 2011) Destinasyon marka farkındalığının duygusal ve bilişsel imajlar üzerindeki etkisine bakıldığında ise, çıkan sonuçlar önerilen pozitif etkiyi doğrulamaktadır (H5, β21 = .55, t = 4.038, p < .01; H6, β31= .83, t = 6400, p < .01).…”