The objective of this study is to analyse the impact of perceived risk on intention to travel in the Covid-19 pandemic situation. Applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the study addresses the modulating effects of risk on the antecedents of intention; additionally, the resulting model includes the impact of this intention on the willingness to pay (WTP) more to benefit from additional safety measures at the destination. Furthermore, this paper addresses respondents belonging to an at-risk group for Covid-19 as a source of heterogeneity that may exert an effect on the results of the model. The model is tested using PLS-SEM, and the empirical results can contribute to the development of safety measures in tourism services and the design of effective actions to restore tourism.

The aim of this paper is to explore the characteristics and motivations of culinary tourists whose destination is the city of Córdoba (Spain) while attempting to determine whether gastronomy is an important aspect of the trip or if it is perceived simply as a secondary activity. Fieldwork was carried out among a series of restaurant establishments in the city of Córdoba. A demand survey was conducted in 10 particular establishments that were selected among those offering local dishes and which are regularly visited by tourists and the questionnaire was distributed among clients obtaining 206 valid answers. Our results reveal the strengths and weaknesses of Córdoba's restaurant sector. While 10% state that the cuisine is one of the main reasons for visiting the city, 68% believe that the local cuisine is an important but not an essential aspect of their trip and the rest view it as being secondary. These three types of tourists exhibit different kinds of motivation. This suggests that strategies should be designed and developed to promote gastronomy as one of the city's chief tourist attractions. Good tourism management based on initiatives such as the creation of culinary routes could be an alternative for implementing strategies aimed at the social and economic development and promotion of particular areas, for example turning typical food from rural areas in certain regions into a marketable attraction.

Purpose: Gastronomy has become one of the key factors in the development and promotion of tourism, and offers the opportunity for certain locations to become specialised in culinary tourism. This paper aims to analyse the kind of tourist whose reason for travelling to a certain destination is to enjoy the local cuisine. In this case, the destination is Córdoba (Spain).Design/methodology/approach: A list of restaurants and eating establishments offering dishes typical of Córdoba was compiled. A questionnaire was designed with the aim of analysing and defining tourists' opinions of Córdoba's cuisine. This questionnaire was filled out by a random sample of tourists in one of ten different restaurants. Of these ten establishments, four were classified as restaurants, three as tabernas, and three as a mixture of both restaurant and taberna. In each restaurant, the questionnaire was distributed randomly among Spanish and foreign tourists in the city on a daily basis. A total of 213 questionnaires was obtained. The fieldwork was carried out in October and November 2009. The tabling and analysis of the data obtained was carried out through the development of an appropriate database. The results were obtained using uni‐variant and bi‐variant analysis techniques (contingency tables, chi‐square contrasts and correlations).Findings: The results of the study reflect the high level of education of the tourists surveyed, the length of their stay, the high percentage of foreign tourists, and the high level of satisfaction with both the local cuisine and with other tourist attractions Córdoba has to offer.Practical implications: The results imply that there is scope for developing food tourism products which would attract such tourists and could be used to promote Córdoba as a centre for culinary tourism.Originality/value: This paper is one of the first studies on culinary tourism to be carried out in an important destination for cultural tourism in Europe, namely the city of Córdoba. This paper also tries to create a profile of the “food tourist”, a tourist whose primary motivation for visiting a given location is to explore the local cuisine.

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to determine the role of gastronomy as a destination attraction, tourists’ perception of culinary tourism, its influence on satisfaction with the trip, and the economic value tourist’s attach to the opportunity to try traditional cuisine. The paper also examines possible sociocultural differences between different tourist segments according to how they rate gastronomy in their motivations for travel.Design/methodology/approach: – Data were collected by means of 392 questionnaires distributed in Ljubjlana (Slovenia) and Cordoba (Spain). Various bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques are used to perform a comprehensive econometric study.Findings: – Tourists exhibit greater interest in gastronomy as a travel motivation in the Spanish city, where they value aspects related to this activity more positively. However, the willingness to pay more to try traditional food is similar in both cities. No sociodemographic differences were found between the segments regarding the importance of gastronomy as a travel motivation.Research limitations/implications: – Restaurateurs, hospitality associations, and other public or private stakeholders engaged in culinary tourism can benefit from this type of analysis. The study reveals the need to improve language skills, human capital formation, and the innovation of traditional dishes in the Spanish sample. It also shows that the future of culinary tourism in Slovenia will depend on enhancing the international visibility of this emerging tourism sector.Originality/value: – Successful strategies to promote culinary tourism must take into account the views of its main target group, tourists. Many studies analyzing tourist profiles are mainly qualitative, with few providing a cross-country comparison. This analysis provides a comprehensive, quantitative econometric approach to tourists’ opinions, and compares two different countries that differ in terms of their international visibility regarding this type of activity; specifically, Spain, which is a consolidated and world-renowned culinary tourism destination, and Slovenia, which is in the process of developing a culinary tourism project. Segmenting tourists based on their interest in culinary tourism also allows designing promotional strategies specifically tailored to each segment.

Purpose – Wine is a key element in the development and promotion of tourism and it offers the opportunity to generate wealth in a given geographical area. The purpose of this paper is to analyse, from the perspective of the offer, how a specific area (namely Jerez in Spain, the Sherry region) is structured in order to develop wine-based tourism. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology employed for this study consisted of a combination of surveys, interviews and field observations with the suppliers in the traditional wine-producing region, el Marco de Jerez, or the Sherry region, in the south of Spain. Findings – The results of the study reflect the level of education of employees, the seasonal nature of tourism, the improvements in its promotion and the need for greater support from local government. Practical implications – The results suggest that there is scope for developing wine tourism products to attract tourists and which could be used to promote the Sherry region as a centre for wine tourism. Originality/value – This paper is one of the first studies to be carried out an important destination for wine tourism in Spain. This paper also reveals the results of a study on the offer of wine tourism and makes it possible for these results to be compared with those obtained in other areas.

Purpose – This paper aims to analyze job-satisfaction differences between employees of the hotel industries of two similar tourist destinations: Andalusia (Spain) and the Algarve (Portugal). Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey was conducted in the two regions. The population for this study comprised employees of any hotel establishment in these regions. The authors have used stratified random sampling based on the number of hotels in each category and the number of hotel beds these represent. A total of 2,064 usable questionnaires from 165 hotels were returned in Andalusia and 461 from 23 hotels in the Algarve. Findings – Findings from this study show an acceptable level of job satisfaction in both regions, although this is higher among the Andalusian workers, not only in terms of the overall score but also for each of the job facet scores considered. In contrast to previous findings, in this study the effect of wage on job satisfaction has been reported as significant in both regions. Research limitations/implications – The different periods of time in which the fieldwork was done may have caused some distortions in the perception of working conditions in each region. Besides this, some departments may not be sufficiently represented. Practical implications – This paper encourages hotel managers to focus their attention on their remuneration systems, promotion possibilities and the perception of their profession's prestige in order to improve staff satisfaction. Particularly in Andalusia, it would be advantageous to develop retention strategies for talented people. In the Algarve region, more training and an improved recognition system are needed. Originality/value – Although job satisfaction is an employee attitude that has been studied extensively, there have been few studies on that topic in the tourism sector in Spain, and even fewer in Portugal. Moreover, whereas prior work has mainly focused on small samples – a limited number of hotels surveyed in some specific area – in this study two important tourist regions using a wide sample, and taking all hotel categories into consideration are compared.