Master's thesis tourism and Local Food and Beverages

Chapter 5.Conclusion and Recommendations 
5.1. Summery 
The significance of this study was to introduce one of the important dimensions of tourism 
that is called food tourism. The purpose of this study was to examine motivational factors that 
influence the local food and beverages in the North of Iran as a tourist destination and to 
analyze the importance of motivational factors including authenticity, interpersonal, cultural, 
physiological, prestige-related and demographic factors. Meanwhile food has been ignored as 
a destination attraction. 
This research is applied research from the purpose point of view and descriptive from the 
strategic point of view. The research questions were 
1. What is the authenticity factor influencing the consumption of local food and beverages in 
the North of Iran as a tourism destination? 
2. What are the interpersonal factors influencing the consumption of local food and beverages 
in the North of Iran as a tourism destination? 
3. What are the cultural factors influencing the consumption of local food and beverages in 
the North of Iran as a tourism destination? 
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Chapter 5. Conclusion and Recommendations 
4. What are the physiological factors influencing the consumption of local food and 
beverages in the North of Iran as a tourism destination? 
5. What is the prestige-related factors influencing the consumption of local food and 
beverages in the North of Iran as a tourism destination? 
6. What are the demographic factors influencing the consumption of local food and beverages 
in the North of Iran as a tourism destination? 
The research data was collected from six restaurants. The numbers of 410 questionnaires 
according to cluster sampling of simple random sampling were distributed and 380 filled out 
by participants. 30 questionnaires were left blank. 
The questionnaire was researcher-made based on literature review and the previous related 
studies. Data, then, was analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. The last 
section of the questionnaire was supposed to identify the demographic characteristics of the 
respondents. Demographic characteristics were analyzed using descriptive statistics. 
Inferential statistics included T-test and Freedman that were used for data analysis excluding 
two questions that were analyzed by Chi-square. In this research, validity was examined by a 
group of experts and reliability was evaluated by the use Cronbach'Alpha for confirming the 
questionnaire. The Cronbach' Alpha was .80 that showed an acceptable percentage. 
5-2 Findings: 
The research findings showed that the factors: authenticity, interpersonal, cultural, 
physiological, prestige, and demographic factors have an influence on the consumption of 
local food and beverages in the North of Iran (Mazandaran Province) by the domestic 
tourists. 
The first questions was "what is the authentic factor influencing the consumption of local