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The importance of different culinary aspects when travelling - the case of international tourists to South Africa

Tourists spend a good portion of their travel budget on food and beverages. Culinary preference knowledge should thus be important to numerous stakeholders. Little is, however, known about the determinants of culinary preferences of international tourists. Furthermore, in the context of developing countries, very little has been published about cuisine in tourism. The purpose of this research is to identify the determinants of culinary preferences of international tourists to South Africa. A newly developed questionnaire based on literature was completed by 627 international tourists. Five culinary preference factors were identified from the results of the study, namely social influence, culture and religion, exploration, the culinary experience and environmental sensitivity. Social influence was the most important factor, followed by environmental sensitivity and then the culinary experience. Only two socio-demographic variables were found to influence the culinary preferences of international tourists to South Africa. Implications for each of the findings are put forth. Specific recommendations are also made to national and provincial government, tourism marketers and dining establishments alike, in order to reap the numerous benefits associated with culinary preference knowledge.