A conceptual study of gastronomical quests of tourists: Authenticity or safety and comfort?

This study aims to investigate tourist behaviors from the perspective of a quest for authenticity in gastronomical experiences. Relying on a review of relevant literature, the current study proposes a conceptual framework that focuses on how the quest for authenticity influences tourists' behaviors in regard to local food consumption. Specifically, the framework defines three tourist types based on the relationships between food consumption and authenticity in three different contexts. Consequently, this study identified authenticity seekers, moderates and comfort seekers in order to describe the expected tourist behaviors, followed by a section detailing the conclusion and implementation.