Utilising Local Cuisine to Market Malaysia as a Tourist Destination

Abstract

Travelling to a tourism destination can be made more exciting by experiencing the local cuisine. The variety of cooking methods and colourful ingredients blend together in a hot wok to create signature dishes of particular cuisines. Nevertheless, a cuisine needs to be clearly defined by definite individual characteristics so it is recognised. The primary objective of this study is to understand how Malaysian cuisine is used in marketing Malaysia as a tourist destination. Content analysis is used on selected Malaysian cuisine promotional materials such as brochures, travel guides, and webpages to extract relevant data. Results show that "close-up meal" had the highest image count from among the eight categories identified. As for text, ten categories were identified. "Creating desire" topped the list, followed by "sensory appeal". The Malaysian Government is particular in the details selected for images of and narrative on the local cuisine. As a result, the marketing collateral could provide excitement and help tourists to anticipate the type of food experience that they can find when travelling in Malaysia. Additionally, it could hel p understanding what Malaysian cuisine is and develop the brand image.

Cultural Tourism Behaviors: Enhancing the Influence of Tourists’ Perceptions on Local Thai Food and Culture

“…Regarding the subjective norms, local food specialists have influenced and attract tourists, and they are willing to participate in local activities and local food experience. The conservative styles and the presentation further draw in tourists [1,4,8].…”

“…Local cuisine is one important factor influencing tourist decisions about the choice of destination, a place where they can experience a variety of cooking methods, ingredients and food presentations [8]. Local food, health care, the communication gap, and limited knowledge about food and culture among tourists are significant factors that require attention [9].…”

Plants Diversity for Ethnic Food and the Potentiality of Ethno-culinary Tourism Development in Kemiren Village, Banyuwangi, Indonesia

“…There are also limitation program for tourism product development related to the local cuisine. It is especially important for many developing countries with rich in term of biodiversity and cuisine to develop more competitive culinary tourism based on local culture richness [8].This study aims to describe the diversity of plants which involved on the traditional food menu and the concept of tourist products for culinary tourism.…”

Yangzhou Cuisine Tourism Resource Development: Situation and Recommendations for Improvement

“…Many scholars pay more attantion on interaction. Mohd HairiJalis, Deborah Che (2014) [6]believed that helping tourists to anticipate the type of food experience is very important when travelling in Malaysia and the Malaysian Government is particular in the details selected for images of and narrative on the local cuisine. Sonja SibilaLebe (2015) [7] believed that tourists also have the possibility to participate in cooking courses on local gastronomy, enjoy massages with use of local spices, or can acquaint themselves with the use of spices and herbs in the local traditional medicine.…”