Segmentation of Tourists that Visit the City of Popayán (Colombia) according to Their Interest in Its Gastronomy

Gastronomy as a Sign of the Identity and Cultural Heritage of Tourist Destinations: A Bibliometric Analysis 2001–2020

Gastronomy represents a significant part of the cultural heritage and identity of tourist destinations; however, related scientific literature is scarce. Considering these aspects within the field of tourism and hospitality, and selecting the articles written in English indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus from 2001 to 2020, the objective of this research is twofold: (1) to present a bibliometric analysis of the literature on gastronomic heritage (71 articles); and (2) to analyze some aspects (main topics, frequency of key terms, methods, and data sources) of the research on case studies in Asia and Europe (46 articles), as they are the most prominent regions on the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity (UNESCO). The study shows the temporal evolution of the literature on gastronomic heritage in parallel with UNESCO’s actions on cultural heritage. The results reveal that most articles relate gastronomic heritage to the sustainability of tourist destinations, and that European case studies address sustainability more than Asian studies do. Regarding the methodology to analyze Asian and European case studies, qualitative research predominates. Within quantitative studies, the use of online content generated by consumers and marketers as a data source is rare.

The Gastronomic Experience: Motivation and Satisfaction of the Gastronomic Tourist—The Case of Puno City (Peru)

Gastronomy is a fundamental aspect of culture in daily life, through which tourists can discover the cultural heritage of the places they visit. Therefore, culinary pleasure is a decisive factor in choosing a travel destination; at the same time, it is essential for shaping tourists’ satisfaction regarding their travel experience. This research seeks to study the gastronomic experiences of foreign tourists visiting the city of Puno (Peru) during the celebration of the festival of the Virgen de la Calendaria, recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage event by UNESCO. The results of this research highlighted the existence of three groups of tourists (referred to as survivors, enjoyers and experiencers) based on their perceptions of gastronomic experiences in the city. We also concluded that there are significant differences in each of the groups in terms of their motivation for visiting the city, based on gastronomy. Finally, the results allow us to conclude that the levels of tourist satisfaction are different, depending on their attitude toward gastronomy, as classified by the groupings obtained.