The food experience is an important part of the tourism experience. Although it is crucial to comprehend the significance of tourists’ perception of food experiences, there is a scarcity of research investigating the impact of tasting local food on tourists’ perceptions and behaviors. This study employs structural equation modeling to empirically examine the relationship between tourists’ value perceptions of food experiences, their perceived destination image, and their revisit intention. In addition, the moderating effects of tourists’ genders on the aforementioned relationships are also explored. A renowned restaurant brand, Nanjing Impressions, which specializes in offering the unique cuisine of the city of Nanjing, China, is chosen as the research case. A grand total of 500 questionnaires were distributed, and, out of these, 458 questionnaires were deemed legitimate and kept for further analysis. The results indicate that the functional, social, emotional, cultural, and health values of local food experienced by tourists have significant positive impacts on their perceived destination image and revisit intention. Moreover, perceived destination image partially mediates the relationships between tourists’ value perceptions of food experiences and their revisit intention. Gender is found to partially moderate the relationships between the proposed constructs. The current study offers noteworthy theoretical contributions and provides valuable practical suggestions for tourism destination managers.

Nature-based tourism destinations such as national forest parks have become important places for outdoor recreation. This study empirically investigates the structural relationships among the four subdivided dimensions of recreation experience (education, aesthetics, entertainment, and escapism), environmental attitude, and environmentally responsible behavior. In addition, the mediating effect of environmental attitude and the moderating effect of gender are also examined. A field survey was conducted in an urban forest park to collect data, and 468 usable questionnaires were collected. Results indicate that, in addition to the educational experience, the entertainment experience, aesthetic experience, and escape experience have significant positive impacts on visitors’ environmental attitudes and environmentally responsible behavior. In addition, environmental attitude partially mediates the relationship between recreation experience and environmentally responsible behavior. The results of moderating effect analysis demonstrate that men and women have differences in terms of recreation experience and environmental attitude. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and nature-based tourism destinations are encouraged to emphasize the four subdivided dimensions of recreation experience, especially the educational experience.