TOURISTS’ SATISFACTION WITH GASTRONOMY: PERCEPTIONS OF RESTAURATEURS IN CÓRDOBA AND OXFORD

Abstract

Purpose - The aim of this study is to gain an understanding of restauranteurs’ perceptions about their customers’ satisfaction with the service provided in their establishment, focusing on two European cities - one British (Oxford) and another Spanish (Córdoba). The study also examines the potential relationship between this perceived satisfaction and factors external to the quality of the restaurant service. These include the customer’s motivation for visiting the city, his/her knowledge of the restaurant and the city, and the tourism authorities’ support for the city’s gastronomy and tourism. Methodology - The empirical research is based on the collection of primary information through a survey specifically designed to test the hypotheses formulated in the proposed theoretical model. The model used to check the proposed hypotheses was tested using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach Findings - After analysing the results, it can be observed that tourists’ motivation for choosing a destination and their prior knowledge about the city and its gastronomy positively influence their level of satisfaction. Significant differences also emerge in the comparative analysis of the two cities. For Oxford restaurateurs, the most important and significant variable influencing satisfaction is the motivation of tourists who visit the city, while Cordoba restaurateurs hold that satisfaction is positively influenced by all three of the external factors analysed, albeit to different degrees. The main one of these is the tourist’s knowledge about the gastronomy and the city, followed by the complementary offer and the official support for tourism and gastronomy, and last of all the tourist’s motivation, which is barely significant. Contribution - The results of this study are of interest to both academics and those working in the f ield of tourism management. The main practical implication of this work is the understanding it offers of restaurateurs’ perceptions, in two different European cultural cities, of factors external to the restaurant service which can affect their tourist customers’ satisfaction. It is not uncommon for these perceptions to be translated into demands made of the tourist authorities. Identifying such factors helps us to understand these demands, but also helps to explain the diversity of perceptions on which sectoral organizations in different European countries base their demands to the common European authorities. In this study, it can be surmised that cultural differences affect the needs perceived by restaurateurs.