Skip to content
Journal On Tourism & Sustainability/JOURNAL ON TOURISM & SUSTAINABILITY/Article
Article recordVersion of recordOpen accessVol. 1 No. 2 (2018): JOURNAL ON TOURISM & SUSTAINABILITYMay 30, 2026DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20464834

Gastronomy Tourism: The Case of Crete Through the Eyes of Domestic Visitors

Many tourism scholars have recognised food as a research topic, and not only because of its nutritional importance (Hjalager & Richards, 2002; Hall & Sharples, 2003; Cohen & Avieli, 2004). This can be credited to the fa…

  • Contributor 1
  • Contributor 2
  • Contributor 3

Reader actions

Resolve identifiers and download the published files.

View DOIDownload PDF
Abstract
Reader HTML view for the published article record.

Many tourism scholars have recognised food as a research topic, and not only because of its nutritional importance (Hjalager & Richards, 2002; Hall & Sharples, 2003; Cohen & Avieli, 2004). This can be credited to the fact that cooking and culinary consumption has gained a more prominent place, as far as tourism experience and leisure consumption is concerned (Mykletun & Gyimothy, 2009). Food consumption is one of the most enjoyable activities that tourists undertake during their holiday (Ryan, 1997) and a travel motivational factor. Gastronomy is a cultural, economic and social part of a country. The identity of Greek gastronomy is rich, with deep roots and well known culinary traditions, which can be traced back to ancient times. Cretan gastronomy is considered a very interesting area, the most typical example of the famous Mediterranean diet, enhancing good health and longevity. Despite the gastronomic identity of the island of Crete, it has not yet evolved into a gastronomic centre or a pole of attraction for special interest tourists. The aim of this paper is to identify whether gastronomy constitutes a motivation for domestic tourists to visit Crete as a gastronomic destination. Moreover, it explores domestic tourists’ views regarding the ways local gastronomy could successfully be promoted, as well as their perceptions of Cretan gastronomy based on their current visit and experiences to the Island of Crete. Keywords: Gastronomy Tourism, Domestic Visitors, Motives, Perceptions, Island of Crete

References
Publication output reuses the stored scholarly reference text rather than a second reference system.
  1. 1.Amer, S. (2006) In good taste: planners turn to culinary tourism to spice up their incentive program me s, NorthStar Travel Group, LLC.
  2. 2.Baruah, S. R. (2016) Promotion of Culinary Tourism as a Destination Attraction of North - East India, International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC), 2(1), pp. 201 - 209.
  3. 3.Bessiere, J. (1998) Local development and h eritage: Traditional food and cuisine as tourist attractions in rural areas, Sociologia Ruralis, 38(1), pp. 21 – 34.
  4. 4.Boniface, P. (2003) Tasting tourism: Travelling for food and drink, Burlington: Ashgate Publishing.
  5. 5.Boyone, S., Hall, D. and Williams, F. (2003), Policy, support and promotion for food – related tourism initiatives: a marketing approach to regional development, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 14 (3/4), pp. 131 – 154.
  6. 6.Brunt. P. (1997) Market Research in Travel and Tourism, Oxford: Butterworth - Heinemann. 17
  7. 7.Chang, R. C. Y., Kivela, J., & Mak, A. H. N. (2010) Food preferences of Chinese tourists, Annals of Tourism Research, 37(4), pp. 989 - 1011.
  8. 8.Cohen, E., & Avieli, N. (2004) Food in tourism. Attraction and impediment, Annals of Tourism Research, 31, pp. 755 - 778.
  9. 9.Dunn, C. (1994) A perspective on the purpose and nature of tourism research methods, In: Bannister, P., Burman, E., Parker, I., Taylor, M., and Tindall, C. (Eds) Qualitative Methods in Psychology: A Researchers Guide, Buckingham : Open University Press, pp. 3 – 11.
  10. 10.Enright, M. and Newton, J. (2005) Determinants of Tourism Destination Competitiveness in Asia Pacific: Comprehensiveness and Universality, Journal of Travel Research, 43 (2), pp. 339 – 350.
  11. 11.Gillespie, C. (2001) Europe an Gastronomy into the 21st century, Oxford: Butterworth - Heinemann.
  12. 12.Goeldner, R. C., Ritchie, B. J. R. (2009) Tourism: principles, practices, philosophies, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New Jersey, USA. Greek Gastronomy Guide, Traditional cuisine of Crete, Avai lable from: http://www.greekgastronomyguide.gr/en/crete/traditional - cuisine/
  13. 13.Gyimothy, S. and Mykletun, R. J. (2009) Scary food: commodifying culinary heritage as mean adventu res, Journal of Vacation Marketing, 15 (3), pp. 259 – 273.
  14. 14.Hall, C. M., & Mitchell, R. (2001). Wine and Food Tourism. In N. Douglas & R. Derrett (Eds.), Special Interest Tourism: context and cases (pp. 307 - 329). Brisbane: John Wiley
  15. 15.Hall, C.M. and Mitche ll, R. (2003) Food tourism around the world: Development, Management and Markets, London: Butterworth - Heinemann.
  16. 16.Hall, C.M. and Mitchell, R. (2006) Gastronomy, food and wine tourism: Consumers, products and industry, London: Butterworth - Heinemann.
  17. 17.Hall, M. , & Sharples, L. (2003) The consumption of experience or the experience of consumption. An introduction to the tourism of taste, In: Montanari, A. (Ed), Food tourism around the world. Development, management and markets, Amsterdam: Butterworth Heinemann, pp. 1 - 23.
  18. 18.Hania.news (2017) Domestic tourism: Five days holidays and cheap accommodation for domestic tourists in Greece, Available from: http://hania.news%8C%CF%82 -
  19. 19.Hatzis, C. M., Sifaki - Pistolla, D. & Kafatos, A. G. (2015) History of the Cretan cohort of the Seven Countries Study, Hormones, 14(2), pp.326 - 329.
  20. 20.Haven - Tang, C. and Jones, E. (2006) Using local food and drink to different tourism destinations through a sense of place, Journal of Culinary Science and Technology, 4(4), pp.69 - 86.
  21. 21.Hjalager, A.M., & Richards, G. (2002) Tourism and Gastronomy, In: Advances in Tourism Research, London: Routledge.
  22. 22.Hu, Y. and Ritchie, J. (1993) Measuring destination attractivene ss: A contextual approach, Journal of Travel Research, 32 (2), pp. 25 – 35.
  23. 23.Jimenez - Beltran, F.J., Lopez - Guzman T. and Gonzalez - Santa Cruz F. (2016) Analysis of the Relationship between Tourism and Food Culture, Spain: MDPI. Jones, A. and Jenkins, I. (20 02) A taste of Wales - Blas Ar Gymru: Institutional malaise in promoting Welsh food tourism products, London: Routledge.
  24. 24.Kalpidis, X. (2014) Gastronomy tourism: a total concept in connecting gastronomy and tourism, Captain Book: Athens.
  25. 25.Kirshenblatt - Gimblet t, B. (2004) 'Foreword' in L. Long (ed) Culinary Tourism. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky: xi - xiv. 18
  26. 26.Kivella, J. and Crotts, J.C. (2006) Tourism and gastronomy: gastronomy’s influence on how tourists experience a destination, Journal of Hospitality a nd Tourism Research, 30 (3), pp.354 - 377.
  27. 27.Lang, T. (1999). The complexities of globalization: The UK as a case study of tensions within the food system and the challenge to food policy. Agriculture and Human Values, 16, 169 – 185.
  28. 28.Long, L. M. (Ed) (2004) Culi nary Tourism, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky.
  29. 29.Moira, P., Mylonopoulos, D., Kontoudaki, A. (2015) Greek gastronomy as a form of cultural tourism, Fakultet za sport i turizam, Novi Sad, TIMS Acta 9, 135 - 148
  30. 30.Mykletun, R.J., & Gyimothy, S. (2010) Beyond the renaissance of the traditional Voss sheep’s head meal: tradition, culinary art, scariness and entrepreneurship, Tourism Management, 31, pp. 434 - 446.
  31. 31.Okumus, B., Okumus, F. and McKercher, B. (2007) Incorporating local and international cuisines in the marketing of tourism destinations: The cases of Hong Kong and Turkey, Tourism Management, 28, pp. 253 – 261.
  32. 32.Papadogiannaki, V. (2017) The Cretan cuisine promotes gastronomy tourism, Nea Kriti, Available from: http://www.neakriti.gr/?page=newsdetail&DocID=1398723
  33. 33.Proust, R., Angelakis, G. & Drakos, P. (2009) A study of tourist’ attitudes and preferences for local products in Crete and changes induced by the current economic crisis , Paper prepared for presentation at the 113th EAAE Seminar A resilient European food industry and food chain in a challenging world, Chania, Crete, Greece, September 03 – 06, 2009.
  34. 34.Psilaki, M. & Psilakis, N. (2001) Cretan Traditional Cuisine: The miracle of Cretan Diet, Karmanor Publishing.
  35. 35.Quan, S. and Wang, N. (2004) Towards a structural model of the tourist experience: An illustration from food experience in tourism, Tourism Management, 25 (3), pp. 297 – 305.
  36. 36.Region of Crete (2013) Gastronomic touris m, Available from https://www.incrediblecrete.gr/gastronomy/
  37. 37.Remmington, M. and Yuksel, A. (1998) Tourist satisfaction and food service experience: Results and implications of an empirical investig ation, Anatolia, 9 (1), pp. 37 – 57.
  38. 38.Richards, G. (2015). Evolving Gastronomic Experiences: From Food to Foodies to Foodscapes. Journal of Gastronomy and Tourism, 1, pp. 5 - 17.
  39. 39.Robertson, R. (1992). Globalization: Social Theory and Global Culture. London: Sage.
  40. 40.Ryan, C. (1997) The tourist experience: The new introduction, London: Cassell.
  41. 41.SETE (2009) Gastronomy in Greek tourism marketing, Available from: http://sete.gr/_fileup loads/gastro_files/100222gastronomy_f.pdf
  42. 42.Smith. S. L. J., & Xiao, H. (2008). Culinary Tourism Supply Chains: A Preliminary Examination. Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 46, 28 - 299
  43. 43.Soteriades, M. D. and Avgeli V. (2007) Promoting tourism destinations: A strategic marketing approach, Tourism: An International Interdisciplinary Journal, 55 (3), pp. 335 – 345.
  44. 44.Soteriades, M. D. and Wickens, E. (2012) Tourism Destination Marketing: Pote ntial Contribution of Clustering Approach, Scientific Journal Service Management, 8(681), pp. 241 – 250.
  45. 45.Telfer, D. J. and Hashimoto, A. (2003) Food tourism in the Niagara region: the development of a new cuisine, In: Hall, M., Sharples, L., Mitchell, R., Macionis, N. and Cambourne, B. (Eds), Food tourism around the world. Development, management and markets, pp. 158 – 177, Amsterdam: Butterworth Heinemann. The Cretan diet and cuisine, available from: http://www.destinationcrete.gr 19
  46. 46.Travel News (2015) The region of Crete promotes gastronomy tourism, from: https://etravelnews.gr/h - perifereia - kritis - proothei - to - gastronomiko - tourismo//
  47. 47.Trihas, N., Kyriakaki, A. & Zagkotsi, S. (2015) Local cuisine and agricultural products as a means of enhancing tourists gastronomic experiences in Greece, IMIC2015: 1st International Conference on Experiential Tourism, Santorini, Greece, 09 - 11/10/2015.
  48. 48.Vargas Llosa, M. (2001). The Culture of Liberty, Foreign Policy, 122(Jan. - Feb.), pp.66 - 71.
  49. 49.UNWTO - World Tourism Organization (2017) Second Global Report on Gastronomy Tourism, Affiliate Members Report: Volume sixteen, available fro m: http://cf.cdn.unwto.org/sites/all/files/pdf/gastronomy_report_web.pdf
  50. 50.Vasilaki, E. (2014) Gastronomy tourism – A new opportunity for Crete, Ekriti, Available from: http://www.ekriti.gr/
  51. 51.UNWTO (2012). Global Report on Food Tourism, AM Reports, Vol. 4, UNWTO, Spain.
  52. 52.Waters, M. (2001), Globalization, London: Routledge.
  53. 53.Wickens, E. (2002) The sacred and the profane: A tourist Typology, Annals of Tourism Research, 29 (3), 834 – 851.
  54. 54.Wilhelmina, Q., Joost, J., George, E., & Guido, R. (2010). Globalization vs. localization: global food challenges and local solutions, International Journal of Consumer Studies, 34(3), pp.357 - 366.
  55. 55.Wolf., E. ( 2002) Culinary tourism: A tasty economic proposition, Portland Oregon: International Culinary Tourism Association.
  56. 56.Yuksel, A. (2001) Managing customer satisfaction and retention: A case of tourist destinations, Turkey, Journal of Vocational Marketing, 7 (2 ), pp. 153 – 168. Corresponding Author : Dr Vasiliki Avgeli, Higher Technological Educational Institute of Crete (TEI of Crete), Greece , e mail: vasiliki.avgeli@gmail.com 20