Festival ‘Cultura e Gastronomia Tiradentes’: analysis of the gastronomic tourism consumer’s behavior

Abstract

The emerging product called gastronomic tourism is currently quite controversial, having received increasing academic attention. Gastronomic tourism is one of the visible faces of the touristic phenomenon and may be associated with great opportunities for the communities that promote it, enabling the preservation of the gastronomic roots of a population and, consequently, an important part of its cultural heritage. The experiences that can be provided with basis on this resource strengthen the destination identity and effectively enable a great potential to increase its competitiveness as well as the sustainability of its development. The main objective of this article is to analyze consumer behavior in gastronomic tourism and the implications of this type of tourism for the welcoming community. The data were collected following a questionnaire survey and analyzed using descriptive statistics and application of tests of differences analysis between groups, aiming to determine the ranking of factors of the purchase decision model of Horner and Swarbrooke tourist product, according to the evaluation of the visitors of Tiradentes Culture and Gastronomy Festival, 2015 Edition.