Decision Making on Participating in Phuket’s Gastronomic Tourism: Evidence from European Tourists

Abstract

This research was aimed at 1) exploring demographic factors, tourist behavior, and the demand of European tourists participating in Phuket’s gastronomic tourism and 2) examining the relationships among price, uniqueness, quality, taste, health, variety, eating habits, unique cultural experiences, and decision making on participating in Phuket’s gastronomic tourism. A quantitative method of research was adopted. The samples were European tourists visiting Phuket from December 2023 – February 2024. They were selected using purposive sampling and simple random sampling techniques. The instrument for collecting data was a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to analyze the collected data from the samples. The research results were found as follows: 1) It was found that almost 70 percent of the respondents were repeat European tourists of Phuket and that dining experiences were the respondents’ demand for participation in Phuket’s gastronomic tourism. 2) The regression model analysis found that price, uniqueness, quality, taste, health, hygiene, variety, new eating habits, and unique cultural experiences could predict decision-making on participating in Phuket’s gastronomic tourism at a statistical significance of 0.01. However, uniqueness, variety, and unique cultural experiences showed positive relationships with European tourists’ decision-making on participating in Phuket’s gastronomic tourism at the statistical significance of the 0.01 level.