Come Dine with me! Exploring the Behavioural Involvement of Culinary Tourists in Zimbabwe

Restaurants in Zimbabwe have various gastronomic opportunities as Zimbabwean cuisine as it is represented by different ethnic groups, presenting an array of traditional cuisine. At the same time, gastronomic tourism needs to be innovative to survive the harsh travel restrictions and economic downturn caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. As Zimbabwe’s culinary tourism is still in its infancy it will require a post-pandemic recovery strategy. As aspect of this is the attitudes of diners. Thus, the purpose of this study is an examination of the relationship between the Culinary Tourist Value Scorecard (CTVSC) and the behavioural involvement of culinary tourists after visiting Zimbabwean ethnic restaurants. A cross-sectional survey, using a seven-point Likert scale, was employed to generate the data from 500 culinary tourists through convenience sampling. The scores between CTVSC and Culinary Tourist Behavioural Involvement (CTBI) were statistically significant (r = .80, n = 500, p<.001). Thus, hospitality managers must monitor and improve their culinary products while also meeting the needs of first-time and returning diners. It is recommended that state-of-the-art ethnic cuisine menus and refined the service offerings are adopted.