Memorable culinary tourism experiences : The role of restoration and perceived restorative environments
Vacations are experience-driven and shaped by both tangible and intangible factors, including a destination’s environment. Restoration and relaxation are key travel motivations, influencing satisfaction, memorability, and subsequent behaviour. Food plays a vital role in creating memorable experiences and enhancing the overall holiday experience. Culinary tourism businesses must therefore focus on delivering memorable, restorative experiences to increase competitiveness and long-term customer value. This study has three goals: (1) to analyze food marketing strategies used by Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) on official websites, (2) to explore the dimensions of culinary tourism experiences and their effects on behavioural intentions, considering the mediating roles of memorability, satisfaction, and restoration, and (3) to examine the role of restorative environments, especially perceived biodiversity. Content analysis shows that DMOs rarely highlight culinary experiences or their restorative potential, despite their importance. Focus groups and expert interviews identified key factors that make culinary experiences memorable and satisfying. Eating and drinking are seen as highly restorative, especially in natural, biophilic settings. An experiment confirms that perceived biodiversity positively affects restoration and behavioural intentions. The perceived restorative environment (PRE) mediates this effect, which strengthens with higher nature connectedness. Integrating biodiversity into culinary tourism can support both traveller well-being and regenerative tourism. Survey results show that culinary experiences strongly influence behaviour, mediated by restoration, satisfaction, and memorability. Besides, the perceived restorativeness of the environment (PRE) as a moderator enhances these effects.
Preview
Rights
Use and reproduction:
Please note that individual components of the publication may be subject to other licensing or copyright conditions.