Food-and-wine experiences towards co-creation in tourism

Abstract

Purpose In general, literature recognises that co-creative experiences add value to the tourism experience, yet empirical research within food-and-wine context remains scarce. This study aims to analyse the tourists’ perceptions of the co-creation construct, their food-and-wine tourism experiences and their willingness to actively co-create in this type of experiences. Design/methodology/approach Departing from general co-creation theoretical concepts, this research explores how they can be applied in a specific food-and-tourism context. The end goal is to formulate a model that can be applied by food-and-wine managers when they create their tourism experience. A convenience sample of 19 tourists composed by 1 focus group (5 participants) and 14 face-to-face semi-structured interviews provided data for the qualitative research to explore tourists’ perceptions of co-creation and how these perceptions can be used to create engaging and successful food-and-wine experiences. Findings Results reveal that co-creation is perceived by tourists as one or a combination of seven categories: social interaction, novelty, creativity, social sustainability, environmental awareness, enjoyment and memorable experiences. Respondents have participated in food-and-wine activities while travelling as a complement to their tourism experience displaying more willingness to actively participate in food rather than wine experiences. Research limitations/implications This study is exploratory in nature which makes the data not generalisable. The findings need further quantitative validation. Although the food-and-wine experiences were created based on existing experiences, they are composed of a different number of stages (without standardisation), which may make further statistical analysis (comparisons) difficult. Practical implications By conceptualising the co-creation construct, tourism managers may use the outcome of this study to turn their experiences more environmentally friendly and to improve the creative process of the experiences. The research findings not only emphasise the significance of understanding tourists’ co-creation conceptualisation, but also indicate the importance of integrating creativity and environmental awareness dimensions into experiences. Particularly, the study develops a theoretical model supportive of the co-creation dimensions that can be applied on food-and-wine tourism contexts. Originality/value This study fills a gap in the literature between co-creation in tourism and its application in food-and-wine settings by highlighting the significance that co-creation has in developing tourism business experiences.

Developing a Wine Experience Scale: A New Strategy to Measure Holistic Behaviour of Wine Tourists

“…It is noteworthy that the wine tourists appreciate a holistic tourism experience due to interactions with other wine visitors and winery staff [76]. Moreover, these findings align with several studies [3,7,19,22,39,77,78].…”

“…For tourists, food-and-wine activities are a component of their tourism experience while travelling [19]. and a wine tourism activity involves the participation of a group of individuals seeking experiences related to wines and wineries within wine tourism destinations [20].…”

Potentiality of Bukidnon for culinary tourism

“…It is not widely offered to tourists due to its traditional belief. According to Rachão et al (2020), wine and food experience will lead to the co-creation of tourism while Brochado et al (2021) reveal that in creating memorable experiences to the tourist, wine tourism must consider its sensory dimension. Lastly, Gómez et al, (2019) find out that wine production and wine tourism should merge to come up with successful tourism and production.…”

Cocriação de valor como estratégia no setor do turismo rural: um estudo aplicado ao contexto da olivicultura

“…As preferências no turismo têm se direcionado para destinos que possuam proposta experiencial interativa (Campos, Mendes, Valle & Scott, 2015;Kastenholz, Carneiro, Marques & Lima, 2012;Rachão, Breda, Fernandes & Joukes, 2020). Os turistas estão assumindo um papel ativo na definição de sua experiência, desde a busca por informações antes de viajar, até usar uma rede de serviços disponíveis no local de destino.…”

“…Os turistas estão assumindo um papel ativo na definição de sua experiência, desde a busca por informações antes de viajar, até usar uma rede de serviços disponíveis no local de destino. Nessa perspectiva, turistas são cocriadores de experiências juntamente com as empresas, comunidade local e com outros turistas (Rihova, Buhalis, Gouthro & Moital, 2014;Rachão, Breda, Fernandes & Joukes, 2020).…”