Culinary Consumption in Digital Era: Tourists’ Typology and their Characteristics

Abstract

Purpose of the Study: Technological transformation has changed the consumption behavior of tourists in the digital era. The ease of access and the emergence of various media also have a significant impact on culinary tourism. This research aims to know the typology of tourists and their characteristics in local culinary tourism in the digital era, especially in Indonesia. By knowing this, it is expected that culinary businesses can adjust the strategy so that local culinary can be more explored by tourists. Furthermore, local culinary tourism can be further developed in potential destinations. Methodology: The method used is quantitative research, with data collection techniques through an online survey (google form) supported by literature studies. The sampling technique is non-probability sampling which is purposive sampling. The number of respondents in this study was 482 people who have culinary tour to Yogyakarta and Solo, Indonesia at least one time, and data analysis techniques using descriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Main Findings: The results show there are three clusters of tourist typology when on culinary tour in the digital era of Non-Culinary Tourist (NCT), Culinary Tourist (CT), and Gastronomic Tourist (GT). There are characteristic differences in each type of tourist from the parameters of attitude, perception, and culinary information-seeking behavior. The average value of attitudes, perceptions, and information-seeking behavior is increased from NCT, CT, to GT. The main media used in information seeking is digital media. The most widely used information reference sources are Instagram, friends, search engines, and family. Application of this Study: This study provides theoretical implications related to tourist typology and its characteristics in local culinary tourism in the digital era. Meanwhile, the practical implications, this research can be used as an advice in developing gastronomic tourism in the world and especially in Yogyakarta and Solo, Indonesia. The government and businesses can make this research the basis for formulating local culinary tourism marketing strategies. Novelty/Originality of this Study: This research is original and new in terms of context and methodology. There are few research focuses on the behavior of tourists in local culinary tourism, especially in the digital era. This study also uses a new method of looking at the differences in tourist typology, using analysis of variance (ANOVA).