ABSTRACT
This study examined the Influence Of Local Cuisines On Tourist Destination Choice In Enugu State using five research objective; determine areas of commonality in the way guests perceived local cuisines and chose food outlets; establish the level of guests’ satisfaction with the quality of local foods; distinguish guests’ perception on the authenticity of local cuisines and level of appeal on the choice of destination; evaluate the extent it is desirable to use local cuisine experiences as a branding tool to influence guest’s choice of destination in the study area.. Descriptive survey research design was used through administration of questionnaire to obtain information from the communities. Probability and Non-probability sampling technique was used to ascertain the population of the study. Purposive sampling was used to select five out of the ten autonomous communities from which 196 respondents was selected. The result found out that majority of the respondents (n=48, 32%) fell between 21 and 30 years, most of the visitors were in the region for holiday purposes (30.6%), a high (85.4%) proportion had attained additional training, majority (n=38, 25.3%) of the respondents were employed full time, Majority (n= 56, 37.3%) of the guests were married. The result from the inferential statistics showed that 72.7% of the choice of destination is explained by way guest perceive local cuisines variable, 62.2% of choice of destination is explained by quality of local food variable, 11.3% of choice of destination is explained by distinction of local cuisines variable and 61.6% of choice of destination is explained by local cuisine experiences variable. The study thus concludes that gastronomic tourism though limited and not well developed in some parts of the world, was becoming an important activity to be ignored and on their future visits to the region this implied that these dishes could be used to position the region as a gastronomic destination.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
i
Approval page ii
Declaration
iii
Certification
iv
Dedication
v
Acknowledgements
vi
Table of
content vii
List of
tables
x
Abstract
CHAPTER
1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
of the Study 1
1.2 Statement Of Problem 4
1.3 Objectives Of The Study 5
1.4 Research Questions 6
1.5 Hypothesis Of The Study 6
1.6 Significance
Of The Study 6
1.7 Scope Of The Study 7
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 CONCEPTUAL
REVIEW 9
2.1.1 Culinary Tourism 9
2.1.2 Culinary Experience Quality 9
2.1.3 Culinary Experience Satisfaction 10
2.1.4 Dimension of culinary experience 11
2.1.5 Gastronomic Food and Guest Perception 12
2.1.6 Gastronomic Food Authenticity and Level of
Appeal 13
2.1.7 Gastronomy
and sensual appeal 14
2.1.7.1
Taste of food 14
2.1.7.2
Appearance of food 15
2.1.7.3
Aroma of food 16
2.1.7.4
Texture of food 17
2.1.8 The Role of Food in Tourism 18
2.1.9 Linkages
between Local Cuisines and Choice of Destination 21
2.1.9.1 Gastronomic
food quality and destination link 28
2.1.9.2 Gastronomic food and
destination identity 29
2.1.10 Attributes
of Local Cuisines 31
2.1.10.1 Culture and Tradition 31
2.1.10.2 Authenticity 31
2.1.10.3 Healthy Lifestyle 32
2.1.10.4 Sustainability 32
2.1.10.5 Quality (Products and Experiences) 32
2.1.11 The
Role of Food in Choice of Destination 33
2.1.12 Some
Indigenous Food in Enugu State 35
2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 37
2.2.1 The
Theory of Planned Behavior 37
2.2.2 Relevance of this Theory to the Study 38
2.2.3 Theory
of Reasoned Action 38
2.2.4 Relevance
of this Theory to the Study 39
2.3 EMPIRICAL REVIEW 39
2.4 SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW 40
CHAPTER
3: METHODOLOGY
3.0 INTRODUCTION 42
3.1 Research Design 42
3.2 Area Of Study 42
3.3 Population For The Study 43
3.4 Sample And Sampling Technique 43
3.5 Instrument For Data Collection 44
3.6 Validation Of The Instrument 45
3.7 Reliability Of The Instrument 46
3.8 Method Of Data Collection 46
3.9 Analytical Technique 46
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Results
And Discussion 47
4.1.1 Response rate of the study 47
4.1.2 Demographic
Data of Respondents 48
4.1.3 Analysis
of Research Questions 51
4.2 Inferential
Statistics And Hypothesis Testing 58
CHAPTER
5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 INTRODUCTION 62
5.2 Summary Of Findings 62
5.2.2 Major Findings 63
5.2.3 Summary of the Study 64
5.3 Conclusion 65
5.4 Recommendations 66
REFERENCES
LISTS OF TABLES
Table 4.1 Response
rate 47
Table 4.2: Demographic Data of respondent 48
Table 4.3: Showing Ways Guest perceive Local Cuisines and Chose Food
Outlet 51
Table 4.4 Showing
the level of guests’ satisfaction with the quality of local foods
in
the study area 53
Table 4.5 Guests’
perception on the authenticity of local cuisines and level of
appeal
on the choice of destination in the study area 54
Table
4.6 How desirable it is to use
local cuisine experiences as a branding tool to influence guest’s choice of
destination in the study area 56
Table 4.7: Regression analysis showing the degree of relationship between
the way
guests
perceive local cuisines and choice of destination 58
Table 4.8 Regression analysis showing the degree
of relationship between the
level
of satisfaction with the quality of local foods and choice of
destination
65
Table
4.9: Model Summary 68
Table
4.10 Model Summary 69
CHAPTER
1
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Food
is gaining increasing recognition as a destination attraction. As noted by Lai,
Khoo-Lattimore and Wang (2018), “Culinary or Gastronomy tourism is a growing
trend in travel, because food experience is a path to discovering the local
culture and traditions of a destination.” The product portfolios of a
destination “consist of a variety of tangible and intangible goods and
services. Food and beverages can form one of the most important of these
elements. It can act as either a primary or secondary trip motivator” (Okumus,
Okumus & McKercher, 2007). Additionally, more “people are now traveling for
reasons of Gastronomy” (Okumus, Okumus & McKercher, 2007). Among other
things, local food can build a local brand identity that attracts tourists and,
at the same time, enhances local pride and employment opportunities for locals
(du Rand, Heath & Alberts, 2003). The growing “culinary tourism industry
offers both tourist destinations and tourist businesses the opportunity to
create for themselves a unique competitive advantage” (Horng & Tsai, 2010).
While food related research did not receive much attention in the past (Telfer
and Wall, 1996), its role in attracting tourists to a destination has received
increasing attention in the more recent literature (Mak, Lumbers & Eves,
2012; Sims, 2009; Hall, 2003).
Tourism
has in recent decades become one of the most important service industries in
the global economy. Part of its importance lies in the wide range of services
required to produce tourism products: transportation, accommodation,
information, marketing, financial services, insurance, etc. The bundling of
these services supports the production of tourist experiences. Food has a
particularly important role in the development of tourism services, since it
makes up a large part of tourism expenditure and it is a necessity, for all
tourists, in all destinations.
Local
food and cooking fundamentally influence the destination choice (Quan and Wang,
2004), and enormously impact the happiness regarding the stay (Fox, 2007). In
such a specific circumstance, food tourism is rapidly getting to be one of the
most intriguing and famous territories of the travel industry (Kim et al., 2011). Food is a crucial part of
culture for a place (Mak et al. 2012)
and food tourism can improve the character of destinations since it is firmly
identified with lifestyles, local products, cultural festival, and legacy
(Everett and Aitchison, 2008).
The
tourism potential of indigenous food and local cuisine are often undervalued by
locals (du Rand, Heath & Alberts, 2003). Furthermore, "local food in
the form of regional cuisine is rarely presented as an important resource in
publicity material and promotional messages prepared for mainstream tourism”
(du Rand, Heath & Alberts, 2003). Collaboration is required among
stakeholders in tourism and hospitality to develop and promote local cuisine
(Boyne & Hall, 2004; and Telfer, 2000). du Rand, Heath and Alberts (2003)
observe that, within the South African context, "it has become essential
to explore opportunities to promote food tourism and more specifically its
culinary heritage.” The authors add that growth in tourism and a more sensitive
clientele have encouraged South African entrepreneurs and more innovative chefs
to invest in the development of local cuisine.
The
consumption of food awakes different senses. Visually, there are two
components: visual presentation, and the visual environment of the meal. In
addition, the sense of smell as well as the sense of taste is important. The
multiple sensate experiences recalls emotions and sensory memories, the sense
of visual, smell and taste are compared to other meals enjoyed as well as the
environment and/or circumstances in which those meals occurred. We do not
really know much about how these senses guide our experience and evaluation.
Still, this complexity makes food a powerful means in winning tourists and
attracting them to a destination. Food can also connect consumers with the
people and places that produce the food that they consume and that connection
is a powerful part of an integrated tourism experience (Kneafsey et al., 2004; Clark & Chabrel,
2007). According to Tikkkanen, (2007), Hall and Mitchel (2003; 2002) and
Misiura, (2006), food in the tourism industry has been recognized as 1) a part
of the local culture, which tourists consume; 2) a part of tourist promotions;
3) a potential component of local agricultural and economic development; and 4)
a regional factor that is affected by the consumption patterns and perceived
preferences of tourists. This section of this thesis discusses how food as an
element in tourism has been approached by previous research as well as by the
informants who participated in this research project.
Food
tourism has been approached in a variety of dimensions and perspectives. In
particular, food tourism is most often described as special tourism (Getz,
Robinson, Andersson, & Vujicic, 2014; Henderson, 2009; Everett, 2008;
Everett & Aitchison, 2008; Henderson, 2004; Quan & Wang, 2003; Torres,
2002). In particular, special tourism is a niche market in tourism, which is a
specialized market that we need to know better than we do today. There are,
however, researchers who have questioned whether, or not, food tourism is a
special interest or a mainstream tourism product. In fact, based on their
research findings, McKercher, Okumus & Okumus (2007) stated that food
tourism may not be representative of a specialist segment. In particular, they
discussed the pitfalls of studying food tourism with a narrow-minded or
shortsighted approach and how this myopic approach to food tourism could
contribute to identifying false positive results.
The
proceedings of the 4th International Gastronomic Tourism Congress in 2018
(Ozturk, & Iriguler, 2018) highlighted that "Gastronomy is one of the
ways that a society can expresses itself and its lifestyle. As the study of the
relationship between food and culture, gastronomy is the main incentive of
travel in today’s world, following ‘sightseeing’. It is within this context
that this study aims to contribute to the food tourism and destination
literature. It is based on desk research that gathered and/or synthesized
existing research. It considers indigenous food as a potential tourism
attraction and proposes a model to enhance its role in a destination. While the
model is pretested in the tourism sector, it goes beyond that as it aims to
enhance the role and perceptions of indigenous food among the local population,
institutions and hospitality companies. More specifically, it considers the
role of higher education institutions in enhancing the value of indigenous food
as a tourism attraction.
Attracting
visitors is important for the sustainability of a destination. Learning more
about the interests of potential tourists will help a destination to ensure the
viability of continuing to profit from the economic impact of visitors. Many
visitors desire authentic experiences while traveling, and local foods and
beverages are one important way to offer those experiences. Local foods are
also a way for visitors to connect with the community, spend money in ways that
support local businesses and farmers, and discourage emissions associated with
transporting food (Sims, 2009). In Enugu state, there are so many indigenous
meals which has not been made public. This study will provide insights into the
indigenous foods that enugu state is known for. For example, foods like Okpa,
Abacha, Fiofio, Akidi, Ofe Akwu and bush meat like Aligator are delicacies that
have not hit the public view with their nutritive qualities. These delicacies
will supplement for foods with high carbohydrates, fats and red meat
supplement.
1.2 STATEMENT
OF PROBLEM
As
competition for tourism destinations increased, gastronomy increasingly become
a valuable source of unique attractions that could enable guests differentiate
a destination from competitors (Charters and Ali- Knight, 2018). Regrettably,
not all destinations, including Nigeria, had capitalized on the potential
opportunity gastronomy provided (Opole, 2011), and not all that tried to use
gastronomy in their marketing activities did so effectively (Richards, 2015).
Indeed,
there are several reasons why local cuisines and its culinary experience should
be studied. First, researchers have found that food tourism is linked to choose
a tourist destination in the experience economy. Therefore, by exploring food
tourism we can be used to determine if culinary experience is a tourism
strategy worth developing and investing in. Food tourism has been associated
with identity, authenticity and cultural heritage. Thus, by determining the
consequences of utilising food tourism in the tourism market, the findings can
be used to understand the tourists demand for such a tourism attraction.
Research has found that about a quarter of tourists’ expenditure and choice of
tourist destination is food dependent. Hence, this study can reveal the
importance of developing food tourism in order to increase the maximum
potential of tourism revenue
Studies
on choice of destination in relation to local cuisines were few. There was
thus, a sketchy picture of a gastronomic guest’s identity (Zahari, Jalis and
Zulfify, 2019). Gastronomic material, that existed had been borrowed from more
general food studies, or were inferred from studies not directly related to the
gastronomic guests (Shenoy, 2015). Studies directly linked to gastronomy had
suggested that new studies need to identify; a niche market for the gastronomy
guest, the relative importance of the guest’s intrinsic traits to a destination
visited, the role of authenticity in gastronomy, and the effect of
globalisation to guests‟ appreciation of the region’s gastronomy (Shenoy,
2015).
It
was for this reason that this study was inevitable. In order for the local
populace to enjoy the benefits from the commercial value of Enugu’s coastal
gastronomy while presenting a ready market for it, there was need of
formulating an integrated framework that could be used to explore possibilities
of positioning it. These are the motivation for this present study which is
aimed at examining local cuisines and its effect on choice of destination in
Enugu state.
1.3 OBJECTIVES
OF THE STUDY
The
main objective of this study is aimed at examining local cuisines and its
effect on choice of destination in Enugu state. The specific objectives seek to
determine;
i.
Determine the way guests
perceived local cuisines like, (Okpa, Abacha, Akidi etc.) and chose food
outlets in the study area;
ii.
Establish the level of
guests’ satisfaction with the quality of local foods in the study area.
iii.
Distinguish guests’
perception on the authenticity of local cuisines and level of appeal on the
choice of destination in the study area;
iv.
Evaluate the extent it is
desirable to use local cuisine experiences as a branding tool to influence
guest’s choice of destination in the study area.
1.4 RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
The following research questions were formulated to
guide the study;
1. In
what way do guests perceive local cuisines like, (Okpa, Abacha, Akidi) and
chose food outlets in the study area?
2. What
is the level of guests’ satisfaction with the quality of local foods in the study area?
3. What
is guests’ perception on the authenticity of local
cuisines and level of appeal on the
choice of destination in the study area?
4. To
what extent is it desirable to use local cuisine
experiences as a branding tool to influence guest’s choice of destination in the
study area?
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
OF THE STUDY
The following hypotheses were formulated at 0.05
level of significance to focus the study;
Ho1:
There is no significant relationship between the way guest perceive local
cuisines and choice of destination in the study area.
Ho2: There
is no significant relationship between level of guests’ satisfaction with the
quality of local foods and choice of destination in the study area.
Ho3: There
is no positive relationship between guests’ perception on the authenticity of
local cuisines and level of appeal on the choice of destination in the study
area.
Ho4:
There is no significant relationship between local cuisine experiences as a
branding tool on guest’s choice of destination in the study area.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The
findings of this research will be of great importance to host communities,
future researchers/students, and policy makers.
This will help the host communities, to
formalize their properties and businesses and enable them to access economic
resources such as credit under the broad goal of poverty reduction. It will
create awareness of the cultural activities and festivals in Enugu state to the
potential visitors, thus, enhancing tourists’ flow, which is expected to lead
to generation of income to both the host communities and the government,
generation of employment to the local people. It will also help to enhance the
existing cultural potential in the community.
To
students/researchers, the findings of this study will also provide a data base
line, which can serve as reference point for future researchers. It will
enhance a better understanding of culinary experience quality and tourism
development in Enugu state.
The
findings of the study will also guide policy and practice on enhancing and
promoting indigenous food across the country so that the right measures will be
taken and implemented in order to promote and encourage dealers of Nigerian
indigenous foods while contributing to the academic literature in the
hospitality field, it was hoped that the results of this study would enable
hospitality service providers understand customers’ needs more hence address
the Nigerian culinary diversity in their establishments. It was also hoped that
the study would assist hospitality training institutes improve the quality of
their training programmes hence improve on quality of the gastronomic products.
The guests may also appreciate more the diverse gastronomic sources in the
region. It was also hoped that the study would enable the Nigeria government and
its agencies formulate policies that would support positioning of the region’s
gastronomy as well as form a basis for future research aimed at marketing local
cuisines as a gastronomic destination.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The
content scope of this study focuses on examining local cuisines and its effect
on choice of destination.
Geographically,
the study was carried out in Enugu state.
In
terms of unit scope, customers of food service establishments will form the
respondents for the study.
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