Local Food Festivals quality: Towards Successful for Egyptian Food Tourism

Abstract

A food festival is an event that focuses on food, often locally produced, to raise awareness of cultural tourism as a vital sector of the industry, the local economy, and the construction of environmentally friendly infrastructure even though Food is frequently seen as a tourism development catalyst in areas where the economy is lacking access to natural or historical attractions. Local food festivals can be exploited to enhance food tourism opportunities. Egypt is designated as the richest region with local food resources, but stakeholders hardly use local food festivals and other opportunities for improving the destination image and create sustainable local food tourism. This study examines how, through the manipulation of such festival dimensions, festival managers can foster positive consumer perceptions of products central to the festival. The study is based on a quantitative approach to achieve its aim. The primary data was collected via a structured questionnaire from 500 visitors of Cairo international dates festival from 1st to the 7th of March 2023 after deletion of incomplete responses, 412 questionnaires were valid to use with a response rate of 82.4%. The study results shown that local food festival quality dimensions play a vital role in improving the image of Egypt as a destination for local food festival tourism and increase visitors satisfaction and intention to revisit.

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“…This focus not only creates a sense of pride among local producers and farmers but also stimulates economic growth by creating demand for these products. The festivals serve as a platform for local producers to showcase their products to a broader audience, thus creating opportunities for market expansion and brand recognition Elnagar (2023), Cela et al (2013), Tellstrom et al (2005).…”