Gastronomy Tourism and Well-Being: Evidence from Taiwan and Catalonia Michelin-Starred Restaurants

Abstract

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.

How do gastronomic festivals trigger behavioral intentions? The role of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being

“…In the research, the effect of individuals' experiences at the gastronomy festival on memorable experiences can make a theoretical contribution to future research. Since the evaluation of the effect of hedonic and subjective well-being on loyalty and behavioral intention, which is discussed within the scope of the study, is handled through the gastronomy festival, it is thought that the theoretical deficiency in the researches in this field will be eliminated (Yılmaz, 2020;Kesgin et al, 2022;Lin et al, 2022;Kesgin, 2023). Therefore, this study makes an important theoretical contribution to the gap in the relevant literature in terms of determining the effect of individuals' memorable experiences and well-being on behavioral intentions at gastronomy festivals.…”

Optimización del posicionamiento gastronómico en Cuenca, Ecuador: evaluación técnica y diseño estratégico para el desarrollo de una aplicación móvil – fase de diagnóstico

“…Este enfoque subraya la importancia de la educación en la formación de profesionales capacitados para la industria gastronómica. Lin et al (2022) investigaron cómo el turismo gastronómico influye en el bienestar de los visitantes. Utilizando revisiones en línea, exploraron el bienestar subjetivo que se deriva de experiencias gastronómicas de calidad, poniendo de relieve la importancia de la percepción del cliente en la evaluación de los restaurantes.…”

The effect of food tourism experiences on tourists' subjective well-being

“…Tourists' food experiences are highly related to tourists' satisfaction and subjective well-being [ 59 ]. Tourists' well-being is derived from their high-quality food experiences [ 16 , 29 , 31 , 69 ] and memories of related food experiences [ 28 , 45 , 70 ]. Liu et al [ 71 ] conducted a survey of 497 tourists in Guangzhou, China and found that tourists' perceived value of destination food has a significant positive effect on tourists' subjective well-being.…”