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The purpose of this paper is to find out how the overall destination experiences of the foreign tourists in India are influenced by the perceived authenticity of the street foods and the degree of their variation/modification. It will also discuss how these characteristics further influence the tourists’ behavioural intentions (intention to revisit and word-of-mouth).

Data have been collected from 263 foreign tourists visiting Delhi at various street food vending sites using location intercept technique through structured questionnaire. Different ad hoc scales were adapted based on previous studies for measuring the perception of authenticity, ability to adapt, cultural disparity and overall perceived experience. The partial least squares method was applied to achieve the dual estimation of the measurement and the structural model.

Result indicates that perceived authenticity and cultural disparity have a positive influence on the overall perceived experiences of the foreign tourists. It is also found that the degree of variation/modification in the street foods condenses the authenticity perception of the tourists. Findings reveal that the tourists are less influenced by the cultural disparity when they are able to adapt to diverse cultures and simultaneously authenticity have a larger effect on their overall destination experiences.

Although various studies have been conducted in the past related to the food experiences of tourists at various destinations, this will be the first attempt to find out how the overall destination experiences of the foreign tourists in India are influenced by the perceived authenticity of the street foods and the degree of their variation/adaptation. It will help the stakeholders to appropriately align the gastronomic product and enhance the tourists’ overall destination experiences.

Using destination brand experience as a conceptual lens and data evidence from international visitors to Egypt, the purpose of this study is to examine the relative impact of the various dimensions of local food experience on tourist overall food satisfaction and destination revisit intention.

Data from a convenience sample of international visitors to Cairo, Egypt, (N = 302) was quantitatively analyzed using the structural equation modeling approach to test the relationships among constructs.

Empirical results reveal that three components of destination food experiences – sensory, affective and behavioral – effectively explain tourists’ food satisfaction and destination revisit intention, while intellectual food experience was reported to only influence destination revisit intention. Interestingly, the effect of food experience satisfaction on destination revisit intention was not significant.

This study identifies local food experience aspects that require to be managed at a strategic level and provides guidelines on how these aspects can be effectively managed.

This study is the first empirical application of a multidimensional experience model to the context of tourists’ local food experience; it identifies the multifaceted characteristics of local food experience that deserve scholars’ and marketers’ attention.

This study examines the relationship between food experience, emotion, place attachment, and tourists' revisit behavioral intention. A survey questionnaire is conducted on-site in Lukang and distributed to 408 tourists. The dimensions of food experience are established through factor analysis, and a hypothesized model of the relationships between the constructs is tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicate that tourists' food experiences included local flavor, media recommendation, local learning, life transfer, and interpersonal sharing. In addition, food experience has a significant impact on emotion and place attachment, and emotion has a substantial effect on place attachment. Finally, place attachment significantly impacts tourists' revisit behavioral intention. The study makes a significant theoretical contribution by identifying food experience, emotion, and place attachment as the salient predictors of heritage tourists' revisit intention. Furthermore, the study suggests that food experiences enhance effective bonding at tourism destinations.

The purpose of this study is to develop a measurement scale to explain how international tourists, as consumers at destination restaurants, evaluate their dining experiences.

The measurement scale was developed using a three-stage process: initial item generation, scale development and scale evaluation. A total of 369 self-administered questionnaires validated the developed scale.

The results showed five dimensions of value of destination restaurant services: service quality value, authentic experience value, emotional experience value, social value and utility value. The scale, comprising 40 items, was reliable and valid for assessing the value of destination restaurant services.

This scale revealed new items that help explain the value of various destination restaurant services among international tourists. The developed scale could be used to extend the research model with antecedents of value and consequences of value for destination restaurant services.

Considering the popularity of food tourism among international tourists, the developed scale should be useful in assessing how tourists value destination restaurant services, thereby helping restaurant managers create effective marketing strategies.

This study contributes with a new, reliable and valid measurement scale that was specifically developed to address the unique value of destination restaurant services.

The purpose of this article is to focus on travellers’ perceptions of culinary-gastronomic sensations as experiences and how these relate to the locality. The aim of the study is to explore the factors that contribute to travellers’ culinary-gastronomic dining experiences with an emphasis on the local food markets.

One-hundred and fifty-eight prospective travelers at an annual fair in Helsinki completed a self-administered survey questionnaire. On the questionnaire, the respondents were asked to rate the importance of 17 items related to eating and food experiences when deciding on a destination for their next leisure trip.

The findings reveal a frequency distribution of the sample characteristics and travel behavior, the respondents’ use of food and eating experiences as evaluative criteria when choosing travel destinations and latent factors of food and eating experiences. Based on an explorative factor analysis using a varimax abstraction method, the study concludes that eating and food experiences are influenced by the overall service (i.e. the food and where it is served and the dining setting and how it is served). The factors show that culinary-gastronomic food experiences are founded on local, original and authentic food that represents the local food culture.

The study attempts to provide insights into aspects to consider for promotional activities related to local food and, ultimately, as a means for destination branding. The Finnish sample has a casual attitude to food, where new but also rather mundane experiences are sought. Accordingly, slow food preparation and atmospherics contribute to local food experiences that may lure travelers to revisit certain locations.

Local food as a means of culinary-gastronomic sensations deserves scholarly attention, as many questions related to its consumption by tourists remain unanswered. Accordingly, the topic of the current study is truly timely and this research contributes by studying a rather unchartered issue.

The purpose of this paper is to use the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) paradigm to understand how the source characteristics of the local and foreign food vloggers impact perceptions associated with the consumption setting of food vlogs (FVs), that is, experiential value and authentic value, cultivate the experiences of parasocial interaction (PSI) and how they are channelized into behavioral and attitudinal dispositions of food tourists.

Following a survey research design, a sample of 418 participants with an interest in food-related touristic journeys was analyzed. Both Pakistani and foreign FVs about Peshawar, a historic city situated on the ancient silk route, were selected for a common reference point.

The reception of Pakistani and foreign food vloggers differed significantly, implying that source characteristics, especially perceived similarity with the food vlogger, are an essential factor in the case of FVs. FVs’ authentic and experiential values significantly nurtured the experiences of PSI and positively influenced viewers’ evaluation of vlogs. The experiences of PSI cultivated visit intentions towards a destination. However, their relationship with the destination’s food image was not significantly related. The favorable reception of FVs was positively associated with the destination’s food image and visit intentions.

The findings provide tourism and hospitality managers with suggestions on how to appreciate and incorporate the marketability of FVs into their destination marketing campaigns.

This study opens up new avenues of scholarly debate by comparing the local and foreign food vloggers’ source effectiveness in cultivating PSI experiences and resultant attitudinal and behavioral changes. This study adds to the emergent research stream of understanding the food vlogger–viewer relationship through the S-O-R framework.

This study aims to evaluate the complex behaviour of tourists in terms of the formulation of destination image related to its gastronomy. Through the examination of gastronomic image, memorability of experiences and food personality traits such as neophobia and neophilia, this research investigates the chaordic (chaos versus order) systems and provides specific pathways that formulate the gastronomic destination image.

Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this study examines the chaordic relations amongst memorable tourism experiences (MTEs), gastronomic neophobia and neophilia and gastronomic image upon the formulation of destination image. This study also includes two grouping variables (nationality [stratified], age).

Three sufficient configurations were revealed that can lead to the formulation of destination image, explaining the attributional gastronomic decision-making of holidaymakers. These solutions concern: food personality traits, generated experience and gastronomic image.

In spite of the need for examining the complexity and the chaordic systems in the gastronomic domain, the lack of a sufficient number of studies using fsQCA hinders its full potential. The complete lack of gastronomic studies using this method highlights the necessity of its use for research in the respective field.

This study explores the complexity of how food-related personality traits influence the attainment of MTEs and the formulation of gastronomic image and how the chaordic systems influence the overall image of a destination.

This study aims to investigate the impacts of Generation Z (Gen Z) domestic food tourists’ perceived restaurant innovativeness on destination cognitive food image and examine the impacts of destination cognitive food image on destination brand image and tourists’ revisit intention.

Data were collected through an online survey, and 337 Gen Z domestic food tourists in Guangzhou participated. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used for the data analysis.

This study found that tourists’ perceptions of restaurant menu, technology-based service and experiential innovativeness played essential roles in enhancing destination cognitive food image. In addition, the destination cognitive food image strengthened the destination brand image and increased tourists’ revisit intentions for the future.

The destination cognitive food image perceived by Gen Z domestic food tourists is affected by the restaurant menu, technology-based service and experiential innovativeness. To build a solid destination food image, restaurant operators and decision-makers should prioritize the allocation of resources to develop their innovation capacity. This study also suggests a path of food tourism destination branding from stakeholders’ perspectives and encourages collaboration with stakeholders. Enhanced food tourism destination competitiveness toward the young tourists’ market will generate an overall win for stakeholders

Food providers’ innovativeness, an important factor attracting young tourists’ attention, has been neglected in the discussion of the food tourism experience. This study fills the research gap, investigates the importance of restaurant innovativeness in building food tourism destination competitiveness and provides valuable suggestions to destination restaurant operators and decision-makers.

Gateway cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata are central in the tourist experience to India, yet the official government authorities and destination marketing organizations tend to underestimate the potential of these destinations to prospective and returning international tourists. In particular, there is little empirical research on urban tourism, food tourism and city marketing in the aforementioned cities. This paper aims to explore the scope for the promotion of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata as food urban destinations.

For the purposes of this study, a case study methodology using content analysis was developed to ascertain the nexus between food and tourism in the three observed cities. Materials were gathered for the year 2019, with a focus on brochures, tourist guides, websites and social media accounts for Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. A two-coding approach through NVivo was designed to analyse and report the findings.

The findings of the study suggest that the cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata fall short in positioning themselves as food urban destinations. Moreover, the study reports a dissonance between the imagery of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata portrayed to international tourists through induced images and the food-related experiences available in the cities. This divide reflects a pattern in destination marketing in India observed in previous research.

The exploratory nature of this study calls for more research in the trends and future directions of food tourism and urban marketing in Indian cities. Moreover, this study calls for further research on the perceptions of urban food experience in Indian cities among international and domestic tourists.

A series of practical implications can be drawn. First, urban and national destination marketing organizations need to join efforts in developing urban marketing campaigns that place food as a key element of the urban experience. Second, cities worldwide are rebranding themselves as food destinations and Indian cities should reconsider local and regional culinary traditions as mean to reposition themselves to food travellers’ similar niche segments.

The quest for authenticity is central in the expectations of incoming tourists. Moreover, the richness and variety of local and regional food in the cities analysed in this study can enhance urban visitor experience, with obvious economic and socio-cultural benefits for the local businesses and residents.

This study is the first of its kind to provide preliminary evidence on the nexus between food and tourism in Indian cities. Building from the literature, it developed a conceptual framework for the analysis of food tourism and urban branding and shed light on a currently overlooked aspect of incoming tourism to India.

Given the scarcity of studies regarding religious food as a destination attraction and limited research on tourist halal food experience, this study aims to explore and compare halal food experience perceived by Muslim and non-Muslim tourists in a non-Islamic destination.

This study was carried out in a halal food street in Yuanjia Village, China. It used a qualitative approach and interviewed 16 Muslim tourists and 20 non-Muslim tourists.

Six themes and 18 attributes of halal food experience were identified. The findings revealed that Muslim tourists saw the reassuring options and religious value of halal food as important experiences. By contrast, the experiences of abundant choices, value for money, sensory pleasure and unique charm were frequently mentioned by non-Muslim tourists. The nature of halal food, the context of China (i.e. Chinese halal food culture) and the feature of research site (i.e. food operation of Yuanjia Village) work together to create such experiences.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to explore and compare halal food experiences of Muslim and non-Muslim tourists in a non-Islamic country (China). This study suggests that halal food could be an appealing destination attraction, even in non-Islamic destinations. Thus, this study contributes to a better understanding of the halal food experiences and assists destination marketers in promoting halal food.