Las variables experienciales como determinantes de la calidad de vida, la satisfacción y la lealtad del turista en el contexto del turismo gastronómico

Abstract

Nowadays the tourism industry is faced with the need to operate in a context with high competitive levels. New technologies and a skilled and demanding consumer target make organizations and destinations need new marketing and management tools which enable to meet the expectations of the modern tourism industry. Experiences and the emotional components of travel are making a new trend and seem to represent the main attraction for a growing group of consumers. Tourists seek unique holidays capable of turning travels into once-in-a-lifetime experiences. In this scenario, food tourism is getting a major acceptance. Due to its high experiential value, it is ranking among the leading types of trip preferred by tourists. What makes the food-based journey an attractive practice is the chance to participate in the service production by means of a direct engagement in the cooking/tasting activity, to learn about new culinary cultures, and to have a sensory experience generating pleasant memories and the perception of enhancing personal wellbeing. The objective of this research is the development of a causal model that evaluates the predictive power of experiential variables, over experiential (i.e. Quality of life) and traditional (i.e. satisfaction and loyalty) marketing variables, within the context of food tourism. Multivariate analysis techniques and structural equation modelling will be used. The results confirm the positive impact that experiential variables have on marketing results, highlighting the need to give greater importance to the emotional elements of the trip to achieve consumers� satisfaction and the competitiveness of the current tourism systems.