A NEW APPROACH TO THE ANALYSIS OF VISITOR PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS A TOURISM DESTINATION: THE ROLE OF FOOD AND WINE EXPERIENCES

The study aims to propose a new approach to analyse visitor perceptions and experiences in a tourism destination. The purpose is to discuss how the discrete choice models can contribute to the analysis of the tourism destination in the visitor experience perspective. The study pays particular attention to the role of food and wine supply in the tourism experience and the destination perception. This research deepens the theoretical approach to the analysis of visitor perceptions for a tourist urban destination. The proposed framework has been applied to the city of Verona. The findings concern an exploratory survey and the subsequent building of the causal analysis. The discrete choice model application and the development of the experimental design are discussed, in order to take the role of food and wine attractions into account. The exploratory survey identified seven relevant themes for visitors. Among them, food and wine specialties may play a relevant role in the assessment of a tourist destination. Attributes and levels have been outlined to apply the discrete choice models. A survey questionnaire has been developed to be submitted to a large sample of visitors or potential visitors of Verona. The methodological contribution of this study is the application of the discrete choice models to the study of tourism experiences. The empirical innovation consists in a different marketing perspective for an urban tourist destination, whose competitiveness is strengthened by the agrofood industry.