Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the role of gastronomy as a destination attraction, tourists’ perception of culinary tourism, its influence on satisfaction with the trip, and the economic value tourist’s attach to the opportunity to try traditional cuisine. The paper also examines possible sociocultural differences between different tourist segments according to how they rate gastronomy in their motivations for travel. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected by means of 392 questionnaires distributed in Ljubjlana (Slovenia) and Cordoba (Spain). Various bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques are used to perform a comprehensive econometric study. Findings – Tourists exhibit greater interest in gastronomy as a travel motivation in the Spanish city, where they value aspects related to this activity more positively. However, the willingness to pay more to try traditional food is similar in both cities. No sociodemographic differences were found between the segments regarding the importance of gastronomy as a travel motivation. Research limitations/implications – Restaurateurs, hospitality associations, and other public or private stakeholders engaged in culinary tourism can benefit from this type of analysis. The study reveals the need to improve language skills, human capital formation, and the innovation of traditional dishes in the Spanish sample. It also shows that the future of culinary tourism in Slovenia will depend on enhancing the international visibility of this emerging tourism sector. Originality/value – Successful strategies to promote culinary tourism must take into account the views of its main target group, tourists. Many studies analyzing tourist profiles are mainly qualitative, with few providing a cross-country comparison. This analysis provides a comprehensive, quantitative econometric approach to tourists’ opinions, and compares two different countries that differ in terms of their international visibility regarding this type of activity; specifically, Spain, which is a consolidated and world-renowned culinary tourism destination, and Slovenia, which is in the process of developing a culinary tourism project. Segmenting tourists based on their interest in culinary tourism also allows designing promotional strategies specifically tailored to each segment.

The tourism industry is probably one of the most affected by the crisis caused by Covid-19. It is the responsibility of politicians, tourism professionals and researchers to look for solutions to revive this important industry. This article shows how the development of Sustainable Tourism can help in the sustenance of the tourism industry, since one of the premises on which Sustainable Tourism is based is the non-overcrowding of tourist destinations (essential factor in the current context). Considering this argument and the existing regulations on lockdown rules, social distancing and meet up, it is considered that the practices in Sustainable Tourism can become a potential solution to stimulate tourist movements and help the revival of the tourism industry. Therefore, more specifically, the main objective of this article is to know tourist´s perception among about Sustainable Tourism and to determine which factors help its development. In this sense, the use of structural equation models in a research of 308 tourists has determined how factors related to the tourists’ attitude, motivation and perceived benefits provided by the development of Sustainable Tourism increase the intention to consume this type of tourism. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11205-021-02735-2.

Thirty years after the emergence of the term "sustainable tourism" and in view of the proliferation of literature on the subject, it seems appropriate to carry out a bibliographical review, based on empirical bibliometric data, in order to find out who the leading research pioneers are for this type of tourism, discover gaps in our understanding, and redefine the concept's frontiers. This paper focuses specifically on sustainable tourism in sensitive areas, in a first attempt to provide understanding of the accumulated knowledge of the sub-theme by looking at research presented by impact publications. A total of 985 papers published on this topic on Web of Science were selected to this end, and after applying the H-Classics methodology, a content analysis of the forty papers with the greatest impact was carried out. This has led to the discovery of research trends, gaps in the analysis of polar and mountainous areas, and a lack of a core group of highly productive researchers in this area.

Community-based tourism is taking its place in the world as an alternative to traditional tourist destinations, especially in developing countries. This form of tourism allows for greater contact with the local community and for the tourist to experience new sensations while enabling the economic and social development of the geographic area. In this paper, the results of fieldwork carried out in the island of Fogo (Cape Verde) are presented, assessing the opinion and perception tourists visiting this island have of both the quality of the services offered by community-based tourism enterprises, as well as the potential of the tourism resources in the area. The main results of the investigation endorse the quality of services offered to tourists by local businesses and highlight the hospitality of the local community, a key element for the development of this kind of tourism, particularly in different african countries. Similarly, it highlights the passenger satisfaction with services received and the need to strengthen the training to tourism staff through aid, for example, international cooperation, NGOs and universities. The originality of this research comes from analysis of the demand made on a concrete island of Cape Verde, a country which is producing a huge economic development through the tourism sector.

Food markets are becoming popular as new spaces for recreation, and this research aims to discover the motivations driving the tourists that visit these markets. Factorial analysis, cluster analysis and Student’s t-test were applied on 456 surveys from two food markets in Córdoba (Spain). Three motivational factors were obtained: Gastronomic experience and novelty; hedonism and leisure; and the relationship of the experience with work. Segmenting and analyzing the profile of the tourist may help economic agents develop new strategies for the tourism management of a destination and more accurate marketing and branding strategies that target specific customers with a niche message. The study could help develop products that align with tourists’ motives to increase satisfaction and loyalty.