Master's thesis tourism and Local Food and Beverages

1.2 Problem statement: 
In the book "Food tourism around the world", Mitchell and Hall (2003) state: 
"Studies of consumer behavior in the area of food tourism are rare and, as a result, the 
picture we have of the food tourist, is at best sketchy, and considerable amount of research is 
required to understand food tourism consumer behavior more effectively. To date the 
material that does exist has been borrowed from more general tourism studies or has been 
inferred from studies not directly related to tourism "(P.80) 
"This quote illustrates the relevance of the current investigation to the tourism 
literature"(Shenoy, 2005, P.12). Preparation of foods and beverages on the journeys is one of 
the most important parts involved in the tourism industry. As Iranian foods and beverages are 
to a great extent still unfamiliar even to the Iranians, concrete measures should be taken to 
make them known to everybody. By suitable presentation of these foods and beverages and 
by using a proper information system, not only a great part of Iranian cultural heritage will be 
unraveled, but also a variable collection of foods will be brought about in our restaurants and 
this in return will help satisfy the customers and to provide the people active in this industry 
with substantial investment. This should not go unnoticed that food, as a source of tourism 
attraction, is neglected in Iran, the importance of this statement is more tangible while the 
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Chapter 1. Introduction 
researchers take into consideration that the local food of each region is one of the emblems 
of that region's culture. The problem that researchers encountered during their studies and 
careers was neglecting the reasons why people are interested in consuming a specific type of 
food. 
1.3 Significance of the study: 
The use of local food has an influence on sustainability in a particular area directly or 
indirectly. Local food consumption leads to stimulate and support agricultural activity and 
food production. local community can benefit in terms of creating job, generating pride and 
reinforcing brand identity of the destination with the focus on food experience in that area. 
Moreover, food can develop destination attractiveness (Du Rand et al., 2003). This study 
focuses on analyzing traveler
s‟ in
terest in local food consumption and the factors which 
influence their choice of food in touristic destination. It also aims at developing the body of 
knowledge in food tourism. As such, this study sought to characterize the travelers' interest in 
food tourism and adding them to the existing knowledge in order to understand the traveler
s‟ 
behavior. Moreover, the managerial contribution of this research helps the hospitality and 
tourism managers in decision making focused on the food tourism. 
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Chapter 1. Introduction