The presentation covers an introduction to the role of online travel reviews in the Gastronomy and Tourism sector. Italian agritourism, which is a particular food-related tourism experience in Italy, is used as case study.

1. Learning about Italian Food and
Gastronomy from Online Travel Reviews
dr. Elena Marchiori
webatelier.net laboratory
Università della Svizzera italiana
Lugano, Switzerland
July 16, 2015
Summer School EXPO 2015, University of Milano-Bicocca

2. An ancient Greek symposium scene
L’Ultima Cena, Leonardo
http://www.portasantandrea.com/

3. Image source: http://mda.maryland.gov/maryland_products/pages/maryland_products.aspx
Food Tourism

4. Image source: http://arrow.dit.ie/culhis/
… is an experiential trip to
a gastronomic region, for recreational
or entertainment purposes…
Hall and Sharples (2003)
Defining Food/Gastronomy Tourism
(e.g. visits to primary and secondary producers of food, gastronomic festivals,
food fairs, events, farmers’ markets, cooking shows and demonstrations…)

5. 1. Ageing and Demographic growth:
MORE PEOPLE TO SERVE
(World Food Tourism Summit, 2015)
Trends affecting Food Tourism
2. Globalization and Social Mobility:
MORE PEOPLE TRAVELING
3. Environment and Climate Changes:
MORE PEOPLE AWARE and CONSCIENT
4. Intergenerational Reality:
MORE PEOPLE ENGAGING BETWEEN THEM
5. Health and Genetics:
MORE PEOPLE SEARCHING FOR BETTER LIFES

6. tourist’s satisfaction
tourist’s expectationsproduct’s performance
Tourism Experience and Food
(Quan and Wang, 2004)
Tourism experience
Food/Quality gastronomy
is a decisive factor in satisfaction,
as it produces a lasting memory about the experience

7. The role of online contents
!!! different cultures have different perceptions of
satisfaction and evaluation of gastronomy
SharingGet information
Before – During – After

9. #foodie
Trends on Social Media: Food and Tourism
Some examples

10.  Tourists seek to get to know not only the local
food but also to know its origin and production
processes, making it an expression of cultural
tourism
 Moreover, a gastronomic attraction informs
tourists about other sites of historical interest
Tourism diversification and stimulation of local,
regional and national economic development
(UNWTO)
Connection with the territory

11.  Creation of tourism packages so that tourists
stay longer in the area than if only one kind of
attraction is featured.
 Many destinations are centering their product
development and marketing on food-related
attractions
(UNWTO)
Connection with the territory: implications

12. Agritourism in Italy
 “accommodation and hospitality activities carried out
by farmers, through the utilization of their own farms
in connection with the activities of the cultivation of
the land, of forestry, and of the raising of animals.”*
*(ISTAT, 2014)
*(L. 5/12/1985 n. 730 now superseded by
art. 14 L. 20/02/2006 n. 96; sentence Court
of Cassazione 2/10/2008 n. 24430)
20,897 agritourism farms*
Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/toprural/3328447854
Food Tourism: the Italian case

13. Destinations brand image connected to gastronomic values
Inscribed in 2013 on the Representative
List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of
Humanity
Country(ies): Cyprus, Croatia, Spain,
Greece, Italy, Morocco, Portugal
Image source: http://oldwayspt.org/resources/heritage-pyramids/mediterranean-pyramid/overview

14. Rural
tourism
Food/gastronomy
tourism
Agritourism
“traveling to farming
establishments in order to enjoy
their natural, cultural and
productive values”
Food Tourism: the Italian case

15. International Visitor Dining Experiences
External factors that might influence the visitor
dining experience with local food in the
destination:
 food quality
 food cultural-related
 physical aspect
 social aspect
Wijaya et al. (2013)

16. Emerging trend within User Generated Contents
(UGCs)
UGCs contribute to the image of related businesses and
destinations, and eventually to their reputation, and are
used more and more by travelers planning their future
vacations.
(Cantoni & Tardini, 2009; Fuchs, Ricci, & Cantoni, 2012;
Cantoni & Xiang, 2013; Marchiori & Cantoni, 2012)

17. The consumption/taste of local products (food or wine) in its
place of origin, by people from that community, and with
local ingredients.
Oeno-gastronomy, food and wine tourism are started to be
combined with the cultural tourism as occasions for learning
about the places and creating business opportunities for the
local communities
(Visentin, 2011)
Emerging trend within the Italian agritourism
 role of local cuisine in attracting
international and national tourists

18. Learning about Italian Food and Gastronomy
from Online Travel Reviews:
a case study on Italian Agritourism Experiences
Sample from: www.agriturismo.it
 1,710 Online Travel Reviews have been randomly selected,
written by tourists in English (573), in German (539), and in
Italian (598) about agritourism businesses in 94 different Italian
provinces, distributed over all regions.
 A content analysis has been performed in order to identify the
dominant topics and food related topics.
(Marchiori, Boegli, Cantoni, 2015)
case study

19. Results
Type of tourist per OTR, out of 1,710 reviews
Type of tourist* IT EN DE
Couple 36.7% 38.4% 52.7%
Family with children 35.3% 39.3% 32.7%
Group of friends 6.0% 5.1% 3.3%
Single 2.0% 2.1% 1.9%
Biker .8% 1.1% 3.0%
Big group .7% .4% .2%
Elderly .7% 2.1% 2.2%
Disable .4% 0 0
Company group .2% .4% 0.0%
Student .1% 1.4% .6%
Independent traveler 0 6.0% 1.5%
* Tourist categories were provided by the online platform
case study

20. Results
List of topics presented on the OTR
Topics IT EN DE
Service / staff 96.5 76 79.4
Quality of food 60.1 58.1 61.6
Description of the guests 56.4 19.4 11.5
Length of stay 42.9 34.0 35.6
Return planning 36.3 33.0 34.9
Relax 33.2 15.7 17.6
Description of the
agritourism
26.7 27.1 31.0
Quality of the room 26.6 43.5 46.8
Panorama 10.6 41.7 35.8
Proximity to city 6.3 33.7 25.4
View from the room 7.6 28.4 21.5
case study

21. Results
External food-related factors posted online in the
online platform
Italian comments German and English
comments
Food quality Ingredients, receipts, handmade
food, biological food
Taste, handmade, quantity
Food
cultural-
related
Discovery of local tradition Discovery of the Italian food /
representation of the agritourism
experience.
Animals and farm
Physical
aspect
Family/home atmosphere Relax/peaceful atmosphere
Social aspect Friendship with the host Food prepared by the host
case study

22. Results – Top food related topics
 Italian guests tend to comment mainly on the food
quality aspect (353 comments among the 598
comments in Italian), in particular commenting the
ingredients and the receipts experienced
 German and English guests tend to be more
sensitive to the food-cultural related aspect,
underlining how their experience was an occasion to
discover the Italian food culture.
case study

23. Results - Physical aspects
All audiences recognize the characteristics of the
Italian agritourism environment:
“relax, nature, peaceful atmosphere”
 Italian guests underlined the feelings of
“home/family” environment
 German and English guests underlined the
idyllic atmosphere
case study

24. Results – Social aspect
 For German and English audiences (334 and
302 comments respectively), the host
represents the mediators towards the quality,
and towards cultural issues.
case study

25. Results – Negative comments
Were the minority of those analyzed:
156 negative Italian comments
108 German comments
278 English comments
Topics of the negative comments:
quality of food aspect, complaining about not
fresh or packaged (not hand-made) food, or
about the quantity of portions.
English guests tend also to complain about the
service during their dining experience
case study

26. Conclusions
Italian agritourism dining experience:
simple and genuine ingredients, typical of rural
environment and opposed to the concept of a
sophisticated cuisine.
The dining experience is linked with the territory
and its history and traditions.
generally cultivated by the owners
case study

27. Conclusions
“great Italian cuisine” components:
 food prepared by the host
 the fresh and regional ingredients
 food is produced directly by the host/farmer or
by farms nearby
 variety of recipes
 the discovery of cultural aspects appeared to
be a consequence of the dining experience.
case study

28. Conclusions
The social aspect combined with the dining
experience is therefore a successful attractor for
this particular tourism niche in the Italian tourism
offer.
The role of the owner:
case study

29. Implications
- Italian agritourism can jointly investigate the
possibility of introducing a more clear
promotion of the typical products and meals in
order to better identify the dining added
values of each geographical area in Italy.
- Investigation on the regional peculiarities
emerged from the online contents, and the
related expectations and satisfactions
expressed by guests.
case study

30. Gastronomic destinations should:
1. Underline the typical products and recipes of a region
2. Underline the talent and creativity of those who prepare them
3. Promote a wide assortment of local cuisines
4. Develop new gastronomic products
5. Connect gastronomy with local tradition & culture
6. Connect tourism with agriculture & food/beverage processing fields
7. Have excellent tourism portals
8. Are “tourist-friendly”
9. Develop synergies
10. Are managed by professionals
Implications for connecting gastronomy and
tourism within a marketing plan
(UNWTO)

31. Thank you!
elena.marchiori@usi.ch
eTourism: Communication Perspectives
the first MOOC – Massive Open Online Course – on eTourism and cultural heritage.
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