The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Food-Related Behaviour of Tourists Visiting Greece

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everyday reality and negatively impacted the global hospitality and tourism sectors. Even though food is an essential component of the tourist experience and the sustainable development of a region, research on the impact of COVID-19 on tourists’ food-related behaviour remains scant. By implementing a quantitative approach, data obtained from 847 tourists visiting Greece before or during the pandemic were analysed in order to compare these two periods. Findings indicate that during the pandemic, tourists had a more positive attitude towards food than before the pandemic and were more motivated to consume local food. As a result, they spent more money on food and were keener to taste local food and visit Greek restaurants and taverns. Despite the restrictions, the level of food satisfaction remained the same. It seems that this is a case whereby the risk perceptions created by COVID-19 were eliminated. The demand for quality food experiences was mainly interpreted as a search for culture and consideration of health concerns. Specific trends have been revealed in tourists’ food-related behaviours, which bear implications for a smooth transition to new and challenging circumstances. Researchers and food tourism stakeholders must set new goals, develop alternative forms of products and services based on sustainability, and, in general, adopt a new perspective to face future challenges.

Visitor preferences in rural gastronomic tourism environment and the related design implications

“…Honey-Rosés [ 40 ] found restaurants may need to be reorganized to accommodate more open-air spaces in order to reduce the risk of transmission or to place fewer tables further away from each other. However, global research on the impact of COVID-19 on tourists' food-related behaviors remains scarce [ 12 ], and to the best of our knowledge there are few studies examining exactly how tourists' environmental preferences for rural gastronomic tourism have changed in the wake of the pandemic.…”

“…Not only does it fulfil people's desire to go green during a pandemic, but it also meets the need for an eating environment with low risk of transmission. Managers and planners must set new goals, develop alternative forms of sustainability-based products and services, and generally adopt new perspectives to meet future challenges [ 12 ]. Therefore, our study considered the changing environmental needs of tourists for rural gastronomic tourism from the perspective of landscape design and tourism planning expertise, which can help to improve the adaptability of rural tourism environments in the post-pandemic era, and enhance the resilience and vitality of the rural villages.…”

“…Despite the fact that the pandemic has been studied from different perspectives, there is still a paucity of research on the effects of tourists' food-related behaviors [ 12 ]. We need to focus not only on how to reshape our existing environment to cope with future virus attacks after a pandemic, but also to conduct a more detailed analysis of who are the real “visitors" and understand the differences in the needs of these “visitors" for green space before and after the pandemic.…”

An exploratory analysis of gastronomy tourism: The impact of dining attributes on satisfaction among young adult Indian travelers

“…Hence, it is not unusual that measuring tourist demands has become a prominent research topic. Due to their greater eagerness to sample traditional cuisine, tourists' sentiments toward food during the pandemic can be described as more positive than they were prior to it [64] .…”

İzmir in Coğrafi İşaretli Lezzeti: Boyoz Yeme Motivasyonunun Tekrar Ziyaret Etme Niyeti Üzerine Etkisi (Geographically Indicated Product of Izmir: The Effect of Boyoz Eating Motivation on Revisit Intention)

“…Bu anlamda, tatildeki yemek arayışında sağlıkla ilgili unsurlar turistlerin yeme-içme tercihlerini belirleyen önemli faktörler arasındadır (Fuchs & Reichel, 2011). Özellikle Covid-19 pandemisi sırasında ve sonrasında tatilde yemek tercihlerinde sağlık faktörlerinin turistlerin tekrar ziyaret motivasyonunu etkilediği tespit edilmiştir (Lazaridis, Panaretos & Matalas, 2022). Bu bağlamda, araştırmanın hipotezleri şu şekilde oluşturulmuştur: H10: Sağlık motivasyonunun uzun vadeli tekrar ziyaret etme niyeti üzerinde etkisi vardır.…”