Constructing Indicators of Culinary Tourism Strategy: An Application of Resource-Based Theory

A tourism destination that seeks to develop culinary tourism products must combine the featured culinary cultures with tourism resources to support the culinary tourism strategies. A concrete strategic framework will aid tourism destinations in identifying local culinary products and experiences and creating promotional strategies and tools for the development of local culinary tourism. The purpose of this study is to construct a strategy framework and indicators for culinary tourism in Taiwan based on resource-based theory (RBT). This study included a qualitative document analysis, a literature review, in-depth interviews, and application of the Fuzzy Delphi method. The results show a culinary tourism strategy framework consisting of four dimensions and 75 indicators. The four dimensions are resources, capabilities, strategy, and education. The four dimensions are comprised of 10 factors (strategies) with a total of 75 indicators. In addition to its practical implications, an important contribution of this study is its application of RBT to develop national culinary tourism resource and strategy planning.