Impact of Cuisine on Overall Tour Experience: A Study of North Indian Destinations

Abstract

India is regarded one of the major destinations of world, famous for its vast culinary trail. Food is one of the major attractions for travelers to select a destination. Overall tour experience is depended on several components of tourism and one of them is considered to be food offered at the destination. The selection of destination is even made by food lovers depending on the destination food image. Food is related to physiological and psychological needs of individuals and at destinations it is associated with other satisfaction factors related to experiences deriving from desired expectations to actual experiences. The current study was conducted by authors at prevalent tourist destinations of North India. These destinations offer local authentic food and other cuisine in demand. The destinations were selected looking at the number of visitors and the similarity in type of food served. A total of 550 tourists were surveyed during the study from various destinations of North India. The results reveal that good food experience contributes positively towards overall tour experience at North Indian destination The six factors such as taste, palatability, serving temperature, presentation style, spices and condiments, portion size and garnish contribute the most in satisfaction derived from food experience.

Keywords: Destination, Food Experience, Palatability, Cuisine, Authentic

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