Purpose: This research aims to examine Generation Z's perspectives of sustainable consumption in food tourism experiences, considering the drivers on food tourists' behavioural intents and basing its analysis on the value-attitude-behaviour model of norm activation theory.Design/methodology/approach: Using a qualitative design, 27 qualitative online surveys were conducted with Generation Z travellers who are also active on social media.Findings: Results show that while they are aware of environmental knowledge and ethical food choices and think that sustainable food consumption improves individual and social wellbeing, the sustainability of food consumption is limited by factors such as time and budget. Also, results reveal that the eating habits of Generation Z people are more sustainable when they eat at home than when they travel. Theoretical and practical implications for food tourism management and marketing are described.Originality/value: While food tourism has been largely investigated in recent years, little previous research has focused on the relationships between daily eating behaviours and sustainable consumption in food tourism experiences, especially from the perspective of Generation Z individuals and the influence of social media on individual and social food decisions.

Research on the relationship between automation services and tourism has been rapidly growing in recent years and has led to a new service landscape where the role of robots is gaining both practical and research attention. This paper builds on previous reviews and undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the research literature to discuss opportunities and challenges presented by the use of service robots in hospitality and tourism. Management and ethical issues are identified and it is noted that practical and ethical issues (roboethics) continue to lack attention. Going forward, new directions are urgently needed to inform future research and practice. Legal and ethical issues must be proactively addressed, and new research paradigms developed to explore the posthumanist and transhumanist transitions that await. In addition, closer attention to the potential of “co-creation” for addressing innovations in enhanced service experiences in hospitality and tourism is merited. Among others, responsibility, inclusiveness and collaborative human-robot design and implementation emerge as important principles to guide future research and practice in this area.

This paper aims to investigate the opinions of local cheese producers with regard to the relationships between cheese and tourism in rural areas. Based on a case study approach, data was collected through semi-structured interviews with cheesemakers and visits to cheesemaking facilities in Valle de Roncal (Roncal valley), a mountain region in northern Spain. Results of this research show that cheese producers in rural areas award tourism value to cheese by appreciating its historical linkages to land and landscapes, the rural lifestyle, and a regional communication of cheese. The originality of this paper lies on the approach to a niche tourism which is drawn from the understanding of cheese as both a local product and a tourist attraction, from the perspective of local producers in peripheries. This research informs rural tourism planners in the design of (food) tourist experiences that rely on a local-based storytelling.

The role of luxury as a source of tourism experiences is gathering growing attention, with special attention to the foundations of the relationships between gastronomy and social media marketing. Drawing from a visual methodology, this study analyses how luxury hotels (Burj Al Arab, Emirates Palace, St. Regis Saadiyat Island, and Atlantis) in the UAE promote gastronomy by identifying visual features of social media posts (N = 1866) to manage their image of luxury. Results show that the most relevant drivers of luxury gastronomy are the discovery of cultures, experiences in the hotel environment, novelty and hedonism, and promotion of a luxurious place and lifestyle that is seen as authentic, prestigious and sophisticated.

Cheese making is an example of transmission of authenticity and a representation of terroir. A piece of cheese conveys sense of place, nature, cultural processes, and ways of making and tasting. The imaginaries of cheese production and consumption are evident in both developing and developed countries. Every land has its own cheese, and through this product provides a particular taste of territory. In essence, this taste defines issues such as agro-livestock activities, health, leisure practices and food tourism attractions. The objective of this research is to discuss the role of cheese in liquid modernity. To achieve this, cheese narratives and imaginaries become the focus through which slow consumption, slow life or slow tourism are communicated and experienced through cheese as a philosophy for living in a contemporary liquid world. The unique case of agriculture and cheese production in New Zealand provides an example.