See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/258207606

Using Local Cuisines when Promoting Small Caribbean Island Destinations

Article  in  Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing · May 2013

DOI: 10.1080/10548408.2013.784161

CITATIONS READS
106 1,203

4 authors:

Gerald Kock Michael Scantlebury

Department of Economic Affairs, Commerce and Industry Grand Valley State University
5 PUBLICATIONS   203 CITATIONS    27 PUBLICATIONS   203 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Bendegul Okumus Fevzi Okumus

Florida Department of Health University of Central Florida
3 PUBLICATIONS   1,062 CITATIONS    220 PUBLICATIONS   9,488 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Evolution of the Intellectual Structure of Human Capital Research: a Co-citation Analysis View project

Innovation View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Gerald Kock on 03 March 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

This article was downloaded by: [201.229.8.29]
On: 03 March 2014, At: 07:41
Publisher: Routledge
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House,
37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing

Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wttm20

Using Local Cuisines when Promoting Small Caribbean

Island Destinations
Fevzi Okumus , Gerald Kock , Michael M. G. Scantlebury & Bendegul Okumus
Published online: 09 May 2013.

To cite this article: Fevzi Okumus , Gerald Kock , Michael M. G. Scantlebury & Bendegul Okumus (2013) Using Local
Cuisines when Promoting Small Caribbean Island Destinations, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 30:4, 410-429, DOI:
10.1080/10548408.2013.784161

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2013.784161

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained
in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no
representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the
Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and
are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and
should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for
any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever
or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of
the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic
reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any
form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://
www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions
 Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 30:410–429, 2013
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1054-8408 print / 1540-7306 online
DOI: 10.1080/10548408.2013.784161

USING LOCAL CUISINES WHEN PROMOTING

SMALL CARIBBEAN ISLAND DESTINATIONS
Fevzi Okumus
Gerald Kock
Michael M. G. Scantlebury
Bendegul Okumus

ABSTRACT. This study compares how four Caribbean small islands—Aruba, the Dominican
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014

Republic, Jamaica, and Martinique—use their authentic cuisines to promote their destinations.
Brochures, catalogs, websites, and other promotional materials for each destination were content ana-
lyzed. Although all four destinations seem to use their authentic cuisines for tourism promotion, key
differences exist among these islands in their marketing and promotional strategies. Martinique appears
to use its local cuisine most aggressively, using a combination of locally prepared foods, cocktails,
rum, fruits, and vegetables to visually portray this aspect of the country’s heritage. Jamaica, in contrast,
uses mainly fruit and vegetable imagery. The study findings suggest a need for these four Caribbean
island destinations to develop expertise in culinary tourism, followed by promotion through brochures,
catalogs, websites, and other marketing materials.

KEYWORDS. Local cuisine, culinary tourism, marketing, tourism, food, sustainable tourism,
Caribbean islands, content analysis

INTRODUCTION The availability of local cuisines and residents’

Destinations offer product portfolios consist-
ing of tangible and intangible products and ser-
vices. Local authentic cuisine(s) can be one of
the key elements of a tourism product or an
attraction in itself. This can add value to the
image and contribute to the success of a destina-
tion (Boyne, Hall, & Williams, 2003; Fox, 2007;
Henderson, 2009; Ignatov & Smith, 2006; Long,
2003; Okumus, Okumus, & McKercher, 2007).
eating and drinking habits at a destination can
be one of the pull factors for tourists in the
destination selection process (Au & Law, 2002;
Boniface, 2003; Cohen & Avieli, 2004; Hall &
Sharples, 2003; Kivela & Crotts, 2006; Long,
2003). Simply put, local cuisines at a destina-
tion can be utilized in promoting the uniqueness
of the destination.
In recent years, the use of local cuisines
has assumed a greater importance in destination

Fevzi Okumus, PhD, CHE, is in the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at The University of
Central Florida, 9907 Universal Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32819, USA (E-mail: fevzi.okumus@ucf.edu).
Gerald Kock, MSc CHE, is with the Faculty of Hospitality & Tourism Management Studies at the
University of Aruba in Oranjestad, Aruba (E-mail: gerald.kock@ua.aw).
Michael M. G. Scantlebury, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism
Management at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI, USA (E-mail: scantlem@gvsu.edu).
Bendegul Okumus, PhD, is an Adjunct Professor at Valencia State College, Orlando FL, USA (E-mail:
bokumus@valenciacollege.edu).
Address correspondence to: Fevzi Okumus, PhD, CHE, at the above address.

410
 Okumus et al.
marketing (Boniface, 2003; Bessiere, 1998; du
Rand & Heath, 2006; Fox, 2007; Hall &
Sharples, 2003; Henderson, 2009; Horng &
Tsai, 2010; Ignatov & Smith, 2006; McKercher,
Okumus, & Okumus, 2008; Kivela & Crotts,
2006; Smith & Xiao, 2010). This is because
food consumption in tourism can be either the
peak (core) experience or the supporting expe-
rience for tourists depending upon specific cir-
cumstances (Ritchie, Tung, & Ritchie, 2011;
Quan & Wang, 2004).
Information technology and the Internet offer
opportunities in marketing and promoting desti-
nations. Such marketing efforts can be enhanced
through illustrating attractive local cuisines with
related promotional methods such as brochures,
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
booklets, websites, and other promotional mate-
rials (Horng & Tsai, 2010; Okumus et al.,
2007; Wan, 2002). In other words, the con-
tent of brochures, booklets, and websites may
play a crucial role in directly and indirectly
influencing the perceived image of the destina-
tion (Choi, Lehto, & Morrison, 2007; Doolin,
Burgess, & Cooper, 2002; Govers & Go, 2005;
Horng & Tsai, 2010; Woodside, Vicente, &
Dugue, 2011). Although there have been stud-
ies focusing on the use of these materials
for promoting tourism destinations (Doolin,
Burgess, & Cooper, 2002; Echtner & Prasad,
2003; Gretzel, Yuan, & Fesenmaier, 2000),
empirical evidence regarding the extent to which
local cuisine is reflected and used in promoting
small island destinations is still scarce. Given
this, the article aims to investigate and eval-
uate how four Caribbean countries—namely,
Aruba, Martinique, the Dominican Republic,
and Jamaica—use their local cuisines in promot-
ing their destinations. The sample represents the
four main colonial heritage backgrounds of the
region—namely, Dutch, French, Spanish, and
English. These four countries are also the most
competitive based on their share of Caribbean
tourism arrivals. This study is one of the first
of its kind in providing and discussing empir-
ical findings with regard to how small islands
use their local cuisines in promoting their
destinations.
The tourism industry is important for many
small island destinations in terms of eco-
nomic development (Croes, 2006; Scheyvens &
411
Momsen, 2008). However, small island destina-
tions tend to offer similar tourism products and
services and subsequently face challenges in dif-
ferentiating themselves from their competitors
(Croes, 2006; Lim & Cooper, 2009). Moreover,
small islands do not often have the resources
and expertise to promote their destinations by
specifically highlighting their unique products
and services (Lim & Cooper, 2009). Therefore,
it is believed that empirical findings and discus-
sions on how far local cuisines are reflected and
used in promoting small island destinations can
help tourism officials and tourism companies
in these small island destinations to find bet-
ter ways to promote their destinations through
using their local cuisines.
This article is divided into four main parts.
It begins with discussing culinary tourism
and culinary tourists, using local cuisines
in promoting a destination, and promoting
culinary tourism through published materi-
als and websites. The second part provides
background information about four Caribbean
island destinations. The third section provides
detailed information about the methodology
employed for this study. The following sec-
tion presents the research findings and the
final section discusses the research findings
and summarizes conclusions emerging from this
study.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Culinary Tourism and Culinary Tourists
Hall and Mitchell (2005) refer to culinary
tourism as visiting primary and secondary food
exhibitions, food festivals, restaurants, and loca-
tions to specifically taste and experience food.
Boniface (2003), Hall and Sharples (2003),
Ignatov and Smith (2006), Kivela and Crotts
(2006), and Long (2003) provide similar defi-
nitions for culinary tourism—which is referred
to as food, gourmet, and gastronomic tourism.
In their definitions, these authors claim that
culinary tourism goes beyond just dining out.
It is the enjoyment of gourmet foods and the
appreciation of the good life leading to posi-
tive memorable experiences. Overall, culinary
 412 JOURNAL OF TRAVEL & TOURISM MARKETING
tourism is seen as a diverse and complex set
of positive food and drink experiences. For
example, Ignatov and Smith (2006) define culi-
nary tourism as “trips during which the purchase
or consumption of regional foods (including
beverages), or the observation and study of
food production (from agriculture to cooking
schools) represent a significant motivation or
activity” (p. 237).
There is a need to differentiate between
tourists who consume food as a part of the
travel experience and those tourists whose activ-
ities and behavior are motivated and influ-
enced by an interest in food (Hall & Sharples,
2003). Following this, there have been a num-
ber of attempts to classify tourists in relation
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
to their approach towards the consumption of
food and drink while on vacation. For exam-
ple, in a study of the attitudes of tourist toward
regional and local foods (Enteleca Research
and Consultancy, 2000), tourists are grouped
into five segments: food tourists (6–8%), inter-
ested purchasers (30–33%), the un-reached
(15–17%), the un-engaged (22–24%), and
laggards (17–28%). Hjalager (2002) offered
four groupings that are categorized as: recre-
ational, existential, experimental, and diversion-
ary tourists. Recreational tourists are conser-
vative and seek food and drinks similar to
their own culture and traditions. Existential
gastronomic tourists seek food and drink experi-
ences that will not only help them to learn about
food and drinks, but also about the local culture.
Experimental gastronomic tourists try trendy
food and drinks and use newly designed cafes
and restaurants that serve innovative menus
and chic service. The diversionary gastronomic
tourists try to escape from the routineness of
everyday life with regard to shopping and cook-
ing. They expect to have plenty of food without
much hassle, but do not prefer exotic food.
Boyne et al. (2003), on the other hand, iden-
tified four different types of culinary tourists.
For the first group, food is an important fac-
tor in the vacation decision-making process, and
this group actively searches for detailed infor-
mation on the available local cuisines and the
availability of different foods and drink in the
area. Tourists in the second group also regard
food as important, but need to be presented
with food-related information. The tourists in
the third group do not consider food to be a
very important part of their holiday, but if there
are opportunities, they may participate in some
activities related to food and drink. Finally,
tourists in the final group have no interest in
food and drink, and providing them with infor-
mation will have no impact on their behavior.
Based on their empirical study in Canada,
Ignatov and Smith (2006) proposed three seg-
ments of culinary tourists: food tourists, wine
tourists, and food and wine tourists. According
to their findings, the food tourists group was
the largest segment and had a higher pro-
portion of females than other segments. The
wine-oriented visitors were more evenly propor-
tioned between male and female, had similar
average ages and educational attainment, but
reported higher incomes. Food and wine tourists
were predominantly male, older, and had higher
incomes and educational levels. The trip moti-
vations and activities of each segment dif-
fered; for example, the food and wine segment
showed the greatest diversity of motivations and
activities.
In yet another study, McKercher et al.
(2008) collected data from 769 tourists visiting
Hong Kong. The authors categorized partici-
pants into one of five food segments based on
their response to the question: “I would consider
myself to be a culinary tourist, someone who
travels to different places to try different foods.”
About 10% of respondents strongly agreed
with this statement, and these were labeled
as “Definite” culinary tourists by the authors.
Another 30% agreed with this statement and
they were categorized as “Likely” culinary
tourists. About 21% of those who answered
on the mid-point of the scale were referred
to as “Possible” culinary tourists. A further
30% disagreed with this statement, and were
named “Unlikely” culinary tourists. Finally, the
remaining 9% who strongly disagreed were
labeled “Non” culinary tourists. Surprisingly,
McKercher et al. (2008) found no differ-
ences among the five culinary tourist categories
with regard to education and income level,
gender profile, travel experience, travel party
size, length of stay, trip duration, and average
expenditure.
 Okumus et al.
Using Local Cuisines in Destination
Marketing
Destinations need to differentiate themselves
from their competitors through highlighting
their unique tangible and intangible products
and services (Buhalis, 2000; Cox & Wray,
2011; Faulkner, 1997; Sims, 2009). By using
and promoting local cuisines, destinations can
differentiate themselves in the eyes of poten-
tial customers (Boyne et al., 2003; du Rand,
Heath, & Alberts, 2003; Hashimoto & Telfer,
2006). However, when using local cuisines in
promoting a destination, it is essential that the
needs and expectations of potential tourists be
evaluated. As noted above, for some travel-
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
ers, trying local foods may be the main or
one of the most important reasons for trav-
eling; whereas for some travelers, local food
and drinks may play a minimal or no role in
their travel decisions and experiences (Boniface,
2003; Henderson, 2009; McKercher et al., 2008;
Quan & Wang, 2004; Ryu, Lee, and Kim, 2012).
Food and beverage experiences at a desti-
nation can be an important source of satis-
faction for visitors (Bessiere, 1998; Boniface,
2003; du Rand et al., 2003; Frochot, 2003).
For example, Hu and Ritchie (1993) found
that after climate, accommodation, and scenery,
food was the most important attribute in the
way tourists perceive the attractiveness of a
destination; whereas Jenkins (1999) ranked dif-
ferent foods and drinks ninth, with hospitality
and the friendliness of local inhabitants com-
ing second in the destination selection process.
In their study Rimmington and Yuksel (1998)
found that food ranked fourth as a contributor to
tourist’s satisfaction, and was the most impor-
tant factor in the decision to visit Turkey again.
In another study, Yuksel (2001) found that both
first time and repeat visitors identified the qual-
ity of food as one of the main reasons for them to
visit Turkey again. On the other hand, Acheson
(1990) claimed that “food plays little or no part
in the choice of a holiday destination, except
for individual travelers to countries like France,
Italy, or more distantly India, where it may be an
integral part of the holiday experience” (p. 81).
Supporting this, Kivela and Crotts (2006) claim
that cuisines available in a destination can be the
413
central feature of the tourist attraction of some
destinations.
With active promotion and specific market-
ing efforts, tourists’ buying behavior may be
influenced positively toward buying and con-
suming foods and drinks in a destination. For
example, Telfer (2000) found that the Tastes of
Niagara Program in Southern Ontario, Canada,
resulted in positive outcomes for that area. The
strategic alliances established among all stake-
holders such as food producers, processors,
distributors, hotels, restaurants, wineries, and
chefs were successful in promoting Niagara’s
regional cuisine. They improved communica-
tion among partners through the use of publicity
materials and this contributes to the vitality of
the entire region. Boyne et al. (2003) provided
another example from Scotland. During 2000,
Argyll and the Islands Enterprise (AIE) under-
took a survey of visitors who had purchased the
regional guidebook. Their study results revealed
that visitors who had read the guidebook were
ready to spend more money on meals that used
locally produced food, were keen to eat out more
often, would buy local groceries, and indicated
that the region’s food would be a positive fac-
tor in their decision to make a return trip to
the island. Their study found that this initia-
tive increased the number of visitors, income
and profits of businesses, and the length of the
tourism season. Similarly, Nicholson and Pearce
(2000) found that two food and beverage fes-
tivals in the South Island of New Zealand in
1998 successfully attracted a significant number
of young female tourists.
Promoting Culinary Tourism Through
Websites and Published Materials
Destination marketing and management
organizations (or tourism offices) use guide-
books, brochures, booklets, and webpages to
promote their destinations (Tsang, Chan, &
Ho, 2011). Images; content information; and
other material included in official guide-
books, brochures, booklets, and websites can
be crucial in influencing potential tourist’s
decision-making behavior. As noted by Ye and
Tussyadiah (2011), offering unique experiences
is key when promoting a destination. The most
 414 JOURNAL OF TRAVEL & TOURISM MARKETING
effective way to achieve this is to provide
visual and written cues of such experiences in
guidebooks, brochures, booklets, and websites.
Technological advances, especially websites,
offer unique advantages in promoting destina-
tions since they not only attract potential visitors
interested in a specific destination, but they
also help them find detailed information about
different attractions and activities offered in a
destination (Doolin et al., 2002). In other words,
websites and online materials are a step for-
ward from traditional broadcast media, as they
allow consumers to interact with the website
content, while the website captures information
about the consumer’s preferences and intentions
(Doolin et al., 2002; Gretzel et al., 2000; Hills
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
& Cairncross, 2011; Woodside et al., 2011). For
example, Ignatov and Smith (2006) suggest that
all culinary segments can be reached through
newspaper stories and ads by working with pro-
fessionals. They further note that promotional
materials on culinary tourism should be tailored
to different culinary groups. Food related pro-
motional materials should emphasize family and
friends, and wine related promotional materials
should highlight romance and high quality expe-
riences. According to Ignatov and Smith (2006),
wine tourists may use the Internet and online
materials more than food tourists.
Government tourism websites are most often
used as a research tool by tourists seeking infor-
mation as a part of their destination selection
process. Therefore, in an effort to provide com-
prehensive information about the destination
and to cater to the information needs of culinary
tourists, the design of government websites has
become one of the key tools to present and pro-
mote culinary related information and images
to tourists (Horng & Tsai, 2010). Websites are
accessible 24 hours a day and they can be eas-
ily and regularly updated without significant
expense. The content of government tourism
websites is important in the promotion of culi-
nary tourism since it directly influences the per-
ceived gastronomic image of the destination and
creates a virtual experience for culinary tourists
(Horng & Tsai, 2010).
Culinary tourism can be promoted in a
way to encourage tourists to achieve desires
relating to relaxation, excitement, escapism,
status, education, and lifestyle (Frochot, 2003).
When promoting local cuisines, issues might be
addressed explicitly or implicitly. For example,
Frochot (2003) content analyzed regional
brochures for 19 regions in France, and found
that country dishes and raw products appeared
more frequently, whereas images of chefs and
people preparing and experiencing food were
underrepresented. Frochot found that status
and lifestyle related to food were not highly
presented in regional brochures in France.
Okumus et al. (2007) compared how Turkey
and Hong Kong use food in their marketing
activities and found that both destinations used
their cuisines in promoting their destinations.
However, Hong Kong was found to be mar-
keted and promoted more as a culinary desti-
nation than Turkey. In a similar study, Horng
and Tsai (2010) explored how Hong Kong,
Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand
used their cuisines in promoting their destina-
tions. They found that all six countries used
similar culinary marketing techniques on their
websites. Following the methodology devel-
oped by Okumus et al. (2007), Horng and Tsai
(2010) used a framework to analyze their find-
ings that had six main areas: cuisine and food
culture, featured foods and recipes, table man-
ners, culinary tourism, restaurant certification,
and restaurant guide. The authors found that the
Korea Tourism Organization’s website offered
more detailed information about local delicacies
and food products, and provided more informa-
tion about traditional Korean table manners with
detailed descriptions and images.
This first section of the article has discussed
culinary tourism and culinary tourists, destina-
tion marketing through culinary tourism, and
promoting destinations through published mate-
rials and websites. The following section will
review tourism development in the four selected
Caribbean countries.
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN FOUR
CARIBBEAN ISLANDS
The four Caribbean countries—Aruba,
the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and
Martinique—were selected for this study
 Okumus et al.
TABLE 1. Tourism in Aruba, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, and Martinique
Aruba
Arrivals 772,073
Cruise passengers 481,775
Average length of stay (nights) 7.6
Tourism receipts (US$, millions) 808,400
GDP at factor cost (US$, millions) NA
Bed capacity 7,966
Room occupancy rates (%) 77.80
Land area (km2 ) 180
Source: Caribbean Tourism Organization (2011).
believing that they share certain commonalities,
both in their overall characteristics and to a
certain extent, their level of competitiveness in
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
terms of tourism arrivals. Table 1 highlights the
characteristics of the four chosen Caribbean
countries. These countries are representative of
the former Dutch, British, Spanish, and French
colonial empires in the Caribbean. The modern
scientific era of Caribbean tourism can be said
to have emerged in the post-1960s period. This
early tourism referred to by Burman (2007) is
reflective of the travels of the colonial elite in
the 19th century as they sought to encounter the
pleasures of the colonies. Although all four of
the selected Caribbean countries experienced
colonial rule, their present tourism experiences
are a result of their respective geopolitical and
socioeconomic history.
Aruba was discovered by the Spanish
in 1499 and acquired by the Kingdom of
the Netherlands in 1636 (Central Intelligence
Agency [CIA], 2011). The cultural influences
of Aruba include the original indigenous peo-
ples, the Dutch, limited African enslaved pop-
ulations, Caribbean influences associated with
the oil refinery, and North and South American
influences associated with the development of
tourism. According to the World Travel and
Tourism Council (2011a) the total contribution
of travel and tourism to Aruba’s GDP was 73%,
while the sector was responsible for 75% of the
country’s total employment.
The Dominican Republic had a pre-
Columbian population of Taino indigenous
people prior to the settlement of the country by
Columbus in 1492 (Fuller, 1999). Struggles for
the independence of the Dominican Republic
415
Dominican Republic Jamaica Martinique
3,398,374 1,700,785 503,107
384,878 1,179,504 71,683
9.3 9.6 13.5
3,792,200 1,910,000 305,200
18,653,200 7,976,500 NA
64,898 27,711 8,261
72.20 63.20 60.50
48,442 11,424 1,060
date from 1822, and independence was finally
attained in 1865. A traditional producer of
sugar, coffee, and tobacco, tourism develop-
ment received government attention in the
1970s; and today, according to the World
Travel and Tourism Council (2011b), the
total contribution of travel and tourism to the
GDP of the Dominican Republic is 18%. The
tourism sector is responsible for 16% of the
country’s employment. The cultural influences
of the Dominican Republic are less diverse
than Aruba, but they have much stronger West
African and Spanish influences.
Jamaica attained full independence within the
British Commonwealth in 1962. Jamaica’s cul-
tural influences are highly diverse; indigenous
populations, West African, Spanish, British,
East Indian, and Chinese all within a physical
space where cultural interaction can coalesce.
Although the roots of Jamaica’s tourism pre-
dates the 1880s, with a few small inns and
lodging houses, the formation of the Jamaica
Tourist Association in 1910 represented the start
of the institutionalization of the industry and
the start of formal tourism marketing (Jamaica
Tourist Board, 2011). Independence ushered in
an expansion of tourism as the government
passed the Jamaica Hotel Aids Law to sup-
port the industry. In 2011 the World Travel and
Tourism Council (2011c) reported that travel
and tourism contributed 24% of GDP and 23%
of the country’s total employment.
Martinique, on the other hand, is a part of
France, having representation in the Parliament
of France and is administered under French
Law. Agriculture, sugar cane, rum, bananas, and
light industry are the planks for the Martinique
 416 JOURNAL OF TRAVEL & TOURISM MARKETING
economy (Discover Martinique, 2011). The
cultural history of Martinique was severely
impacted by the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelee
that destroyed Saint Pierre, the original capital
city, and resulted in more than 27,000 casu-
alties from the molten lava and inhaling the
volcanic gasses. More than 5,000 people left
the island for work on the Panama Canal
construction project in 1905. Volcanic activity
from the 1929–1932 period negatively impacted
the banana plantations, and subsequent hur-
ricanes in 1951 (Hurricane Dog) and 1963
(Hurricane Edith) added to the negative impacts.
Currently, the travel and tourism sector of
Martinique accounts for 10% of GDP and 11%
of total employment (World Travel and Tourism
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
Council, 2011d).
The Caribbean region—with its brand image
consisting of sunny tropical islands naturally
decorated with exotic flora and fauna, and
surrounded by blue seawater and gentle breezes
(Jayawardena, 2002)—could truly benefit
from these enhanced marketing strategies.
These islands can greatly benefit from using
such marketing strategies as part of their
sustainable tourism programs. Although these
islands face constraints common to many small
island destinations such as size, vulnerability
to external shocks, and natural disasters, the
region has performed relatively well due to its
reliance on tourism for growth (Meyer, 2006).
However, regardless of being a well-defined
destination with its unique sand, sea, and
sun characteristics, the Caribbean has been
experiencing a decline in its share of the global
travel market since 2003, finding itself at the
center of an increased competition to attract
visitors (Conway & Timms, 2010; Douglas &
Mills, 2004).
The region is situated in the tropical
zone, enabling crops suited to warm and
humid climates to flourish much of the time
(McWilliams & Heller, 2003). The crops that
thrive in much of the region include sugar-
cane, bananas, coconuts, pineapples, citrus, and
peppers. Rice, breadfruit, cacao, mangoes, cof-
fee, and various spices have also proved to
adapt well to the islands when they were intro-
duced by people from Europe and Asia. Plant
foods of great variety generally were available
to the early colonists and continue to be ade-
quate for local use and even for export today
(McWilliams & Heller, 2003). This was rein-
forced by studies done in the early 1990s by the
Caribbean Development Bank (CDB, 1991) and
the CARICOM Export Development Project
(CEDP, 1991), which surveyed the hotel sec-
tor in 13 Caribbean countries and identified
opportunities for increasing hospitality sector
linkages with the regional agricultural and man-
ufacturing sectors. Although no published aca-
demic research has been located by the authors
relating specifically to agro-tourism in the
Caribbean, the Caribbean Tourism Organization
in collaboration with Inter-American Institute
for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the
Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute, Pan-
American Health Organization, and the World
Health Organization have been very active in
stimulating the linkages (Caribbean Tourism
Organization, 2006; Harvey, 2011).
METHODOLOGY
For this research study, a case study approach
(Yin, 2003) was chosen believing that it would
provide an in-depth investigation and eval-
uation of these four destinations’ efforts of
using local cuisine in promoting their des-
tinations. Four Caribbean countries—namely,
Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and
Martinique—were chosen as cases for this
study. General and specific foods and drinks
related brochures, catalogs, websites, and other
promotional materials for each destination were
content analyzed. Content analysis is “a tech-
nique for gathering and analyzing the content of
text” (Neuman, 2003, p. 219). It can be based
on written or visual materials including book-
lets, newspapers, magazines, brochures, adver-
tisements, films, official documents, video-
tapes, photographs, and websites that may
offer detailed and rich information about the
researched topic (Jenkins, 1999). This method is
non-reactive since the process of placing words,
messages, or symbols in a text to communicate
to a reader occurs without influence from the
researcher who analyzes its content (Neuman,
2003). It has been used in numerous previous
 Okumus et al.
studies in the tourism field (Choi et al., 2007;
Echtner & Prasad, 2003; Hudson & Miller,
2004; Govers & Go, 2005; Kemp & Dwyer,
2003; Nickerson, 1995; Wan, 2002). In simi-
lar studies on culinary tourism, Frochot (2003),
Horng and Tsai (2010), and Okumus et al.
(2007) have also utilized the content analysis
method.
This research lent itself to a multi-stage
content-analysis approach following Finn,
Elliot-White, and Walton (2000), Grbich
(2007), Hsieh and Shannon (2005), Hodson
(1999), and Neuman (2003). First, the research
aims were identified and a coding scheme
was developed based on an in-depth literature
review (du Rand et al., 2003; Frochot, 2003;
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
Horng & Tsai, 2010; Ignatov & Smith, 2006;
Kivela & Crotts, 2006; Okumus et al., 2007).
Informed with the literature, the coding scheme
(theoretical framework) had three main closely
interrelated areas: (a) main cuisines and food
culture promoted in each destination; (b) range
and diversity of the texts and images of food,
beverages, dining, farming, and festivals in each
destination; and (c) the current role of food
and drinks in marketing these four destinations.
Under each of the above three areas, the authors
identified five sub-categories related to texts—
which were “Food Related,” “Beverages,”
“Dining,” “Farming,” and “Festivals”; and for
the image specific category, three sub-categories
were identified—which are “Food Related,”
“Beverages,” and “Dining.” One of the reasons
for creating sub-categories was that images
used to promote tourism relied heavily on
pictorial symbols in order to attract tourists
to particular destinations. These interrelated
areas were specifically selected under the belief
that by looking at these areas as documented
in brochures, booklets, and websites, the
intended research objectives could be better
accomplished.
In the second stage, general and food and
drinks related brochures and booklets were col-
lected from the national tourism organizations
of the four destinations. To perform a con-
tent analysis on the dominant representations
of local cuisines of the four Caribbean coun-
tries, general as well as food and drinks related
brochures and catalogs were requested from
417
the national tourism organization (NTO) of
each country. In order to eliminate bias among
different islands, the brochures were requested
without identifying the specific reason for the
information requested. The official websites
aiming to market and promote each island
included some short films and advertisements
about each destination. These short videos were
also content analyzed. Once all materials were
received and collected, the classification and
enumeration process was conducted (Grbich,
2007). First, a list of all the collected mate-
rials were compiled, counted, and classified.
In addition, the addresses of relevant website for
each NTO were identified and all promotional
materials were collected from these websites
for each destination. Table 2 provides a list-
ing of the brochures, booklets, and website that
were analyzed. It is important to emphasize that
the brochures, booklets, and websites designed,
produced, published, and disseminated by offi-
cial national tourism offices or similar official
organizations in each destination were chosen
with the belief that such official communica-
tion would be the most common media used by
destinations to market and promote their entire
destination experience to potential tourists.
In the third stage, the contents of relevant
websites and collected brochures and book-
lets were analyzed and cross-tabulated by each
researcher. In this stage, following the coding
scheme developed earlier in Stage 1 based on
an in-depth literature review (Frochot, 2003;
Horng & Tsai, 2010; Ignatov & Smith, 2006;
Okumus et al., 2007), the authors first catego-
rized the collected materials under “Observed
Text” and “Observed Images” and later tried
to identify (a) main cuisines and food culture
promoted in each destination; (b) frequency,
intensity, and space allocated for the provided
images and text related to foods, beverages, din-
ing experiences, farming, and festivals/events
in each destination; and (c) the current role
of food and drinks in marketing these four
destinations.
The total number of images and text is pre-
sented in Table 3. The assessment included only
destination specific food related advertisements
and excluded those relating to the overall pur-
pose of promoting a destination. A count of the
 418 JOURNAL OF TRAVEL & TOURISM MARKETING

TABLE 2. Brochures and Catalogs Received From Destination Marketing Organizations

Aruba Dominic Republic Jamaica Martinique

Catalogs received
Aruba Bonbini
Aruba Quick Reference Guide
Aruba Family Experience
Aruba Your Adventure Starts
Here
Aruba Gastronomic
Association
Dine Around Program
Site map (downloaded)
La Cotica National Jamaican One Love Les iles ala Carte
Tourism Guide Jamaica Attractions Color me Martinique
Dominican Republic and Tour La Martinique Fleur des Caribe’s
Vacation Planner Site map Martinique Heritage Trail
Site map (downloaded) Martinique–So Much in an Island
Martinique Bonjour
Martinique Land of Rum
Sales Guide Martinique
Site map (downloaded)

Note. Table created by authors using the information received from the corresponding country’s national tourism
organization (http://www.aruba.com, http://www.visitjamaica.com, http://www.dr1.com, http://www.martinique.org).

TABLE 3. Total Text and Images of the Four Destinations

Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014

Aruba Dominican Republic Jamaica Martinique Total

Observed text 64 82 71 89 306

Observed images 9 25 14 41 89
Percentage 18.48% 27.09% 21.52% 32.91% 100%

Note. Table created by authors using the information received from the corresponding island’s national tourism organization.

NTO’s brochures and catalogs resulted in a total
of 395 text and images; Martinique having the
largest percentage of all four islands. Each of
these categories were then divided into differ-
ent sub-categories, as the main purpose of this
study was to compare and contrast the use of
local cuisine and indirect food and beverage
related content used in the marketing of these
four Caribbean tourism destinations.
In Stage 4, the initial results of the con-
tent analysis were compared and if there was
a lack of congruity between the categories,
the materials were content analyzed again col-
lectively. In the final stage, the results were
summarized, synthesized, and the findings of
the research were finalized. Important similar-
ities were observed among brochures of the
four countries as well as between brochures,
booklets, and websites in terms of the material
covered and issues emphasized for each coun-
try. It was apparent that the same materials,
themes, images, and photos were used without
modification in different communication media
(brochures, booklets, and websites). In addition,
it was further discovered that the same written
or electronic materials were translated into dif-
ferent languages.
FINDINGS
Table 4 presents the research findings related
to text specific attributes and Table 5 presents
the research findings related to image specific
attributes. The research findings for each desti-
nation are presented below.
Martinique
Martinique, with its French Colonial back-
ground, had the largest number of occurrences
of both specific text references (total 89) and
images (total 41) promoting their cuisine
(Table 3). This surpassed the occurrences
found in the collateral material provided by
the other three countries—Aruba, Jamaica, and
the Dominican Republic. However, two text
references indicated Martinique’s relationship
with the “Caribbean Cuisine,” while only
three text references mentioned Martinique’s
 Okumus et al. 419

TABLE 4. Text Specific Attributes for the Four Sub-Categories “Food Related,” “Beverages,”
“Dining,” “Farming,” and “Festivals”

Text specific attributes

Aruba Dominican Republic Jamaica Martinique Total

I. Food related
Caribbean cuisine 2 2
Authentic cuisine 1 42 5 3 51
Authentic local dishes 36 7 11 34 88
International dishes 1 2 3
Local pastries/desserts 10 2 12
Local fruits and vegetables 2 10 4 16
Local seafood 1 1 1 3
Local herbs and spices 1 2 3
Local coffee 1 4 5
Specific dishes 1 1
Influence local cuisine 1 1
Organic cuisine 1 1
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014

History local cuisine 2 2

Fusion of local cuisine 2 2
Chefs highlighted 1 1

II. Beverages
General 3 1 4
Wines 3 3 3 1 10
Beers 1 1 2 4
Rum (making of) 1 4 9 14

III. Dining
List of restaurants 8 9 13 30
Dining experience 6 1 3 10
Special programs 2 2

IV. Farming
Organic farming 1 1
Agriculture 9 9
Horticulture 7 7
Agri-tourism 2 2
Agri-hotels (farm inns) 2 2

V. Festivals
Local food-related festivals 1 6 7
Food & wine festivals 1 9 10
Museums 1 1
Cookbooks 1 1 2

Note. Table created by authors using the information received from the corresponding country’s national tourism
organization.

“Authentic Cuisine” (this compared to 42 text
references from the Dominican Republic’s
printed materials), and a total of 34 text mes-
sages referring to “Authentic Local Dishes,”
compared to 36 text references from Aruba’s
printed materials. Specifically related to
the authenticity of their cuisine—namely,
the “Influence on their Local Cuisine” (one
text reference), “Organic Cuisine” (one text
reference), “History of Their Local Cuisine”
(two text references), “Fusion of Their Local
Cuisine” (two text references)—Martinique
outperformed the remaining three Caribbean
countries, where no related text references were
observed in their printed materials.
Unique about Martinique is their approach
to the promotion of their “local authentic food
related festivals” (six texts) in conjunction with
 420 JOURNAL OF TRAVEL & TOURISM MARKETING

TABLE 5. Image Specific Attributes for the Four Sub-Categories “Food Related,”
“Beverages,” and “Dining”

Image specific attributes

Aruba Dominican Republic Jamaica Martinique Total

I. Food related
Caribbean cuisine
Authentic local dishes
International dishes
Local pastries/desserts
Local fruits & vegetables
Local herbs and spices
Local seafood
Local coffee
Video on website
1 1
1 2 3 6
3 1 4
2 2
2 8 5 15
2 2
3 3 6
1 1
1 1

II. Beverages
Wines 3 2 2 1 8
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014

Local beer 1 1
Rum (making of) 1 7 8
Cocktails 1 1 8 10
Coconut drinks 2 2

III. Dining
List of restaurants 10 1 11 22

Note. Table created by authors using the information received from the corresponding country’s national tourism
organization.

the number of restaurants (13 text references)
illustrated in their material (Table 4). This
clearly indicates the island’s more enlight-
ened approach toward securing the competitive
advantage by promoting the alliance between
local growers and restaurateurs with their mar-
keting campaign compared to the other islands
in the Caribbean. Surprisingly, Martinique was
the only island promoting “Agri-Tourism” (two
text references) and “Agri-Hotels/Farm Inns”
(two text references), where none of these con-
cepts were highlighted in the brochures of
the remaining three destinations. In addition,
Martinique was the only destination promoting
a food commodity related museum.
As it relates to image specific attributes,
Martinique had a stronger focus on beverages
compared to food related images. In this case,
the focus was on the production of their local
rum (seven images), and other local cocktails
(eight images). In the food related area, “Local
Fruits and Vegetables” recorded the second
highest number of images, a total of five images
(Table 5). However, this was lower compared
to the island of Jamaica, which had a total of
eight images illustrating their “Local Fruits and
Vegetables.” The number of images promoting
their local restaurants (11 images) was similar
compared to the number of images in the printed
materials of the Dominican Republic.
Other examples on the printed materials
included the “Martinique So Much in an Island”
brochure, which included texts that promote the
“delights of French and Creole cuisine,” classi-
fying the cuisine of Martinique as “authentically
Caribbean with a fusion of indigenous, African,
European and Asian influences.” The brochure
also focused on two different “great” cuisines
that the island offers. One highlighted upscale
restaurants, and the second highlighted their
“Creole” cuisine, which can be found through-
out the island and its total of 365 restaurants.
The island classifies “Creole” as organic cui-
sine produced from local ingredients such as
fish, shellfish, pork, beef, coconut, bananas,
and other farm produced fruits and vegetables.
For example, specific Creole items highlight
Martinique’s West African origins including
 Okumus et al.
the famous “Accras,” which are golden codfish
fritters. According to the brochures, “Accras”
kept the same name and form, but the ingredi-
ents have changed compared to the traditional
African recipe.
Another brochure, “Color Me Martinique,”
which also included a DVD, highlights food
related tours and attractions such as rum fac-
tories, sugar plantations, the “Culinary Week
in Sainte Marie,” which featured an interna-
tional cooking competition and artisans selling
Creole fruits perceived as exotic, vegetables and
prepared jams, cakes, and other food related
products. This brochure also included the pro-
motion of their Agricultural Fair, which is an
exhibition of local agricultural products, food,
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
and music. The DVD content, which besides
promoting several areas of the island, included
a food related image in almost every segment,
and most of these images are of local products.
The “Sales Guide Martinique” was another
brochure that provided an abundance of text
references and images relating to cuisine.
Examples of these text references included the
promotion of Martinique’s Agri-Tourism and
Farm Stays concept; the island’s Gastronomy
(Tourism and Good Food); Creole cuisine appe-
tizers, main courses, desserts, and digestives;
the Banana Museum, which presented the entire
history of this fruit; the “Rum Route,” which
illustrates the history of rum and sugarcane;
“Patte d’or,” which is their annual Easter crab
festival; and the “Trempage show” highlighting
a culinary competition focusing on “Trempage,”
which is a typical Creole dish. Images in this
brochure included local herbs and spices, local
citrus and other local fish dishes, and exotic
cocktails.
One particular brochure/booklet included
in the package was “Martinique: Land of
Rum.” This is a 34-page document highlight-
ing the history and production of the coun-
try’s assorted rum products. This was illus-
trated with both extensive text references (nine
text references in number) and photographs
(seven illustrations) related to the history of
rum in Martinique. The official website of
the Martinique Tourism Authority (http://www.
martinique.org) also had an array of information
related to their authentic cuisine. The website’s
421
site map included references to “Creole dishes,”
“Flavors of Martinican cuisine,” and related
links corresponding to the printed materials.
Some of the visual illustrations on the website
were of Martinique’s local dishes.
The above mentioned findings and the mag-
nitude of promoting their local cuisine can be
related to Martinique’s colonial connection with
France, a country known for its wonderful del-
icacies of great bread, cheese, and charcuterie.
Interestingly, as mentioned in the brochures,
few other Caribbean islands have that particu-
lar uniqueness with their cuisine. One particular
aspect is the promotion of the Martinican atti-
tude toward cooking. A popular perception is
that food is not merely a necessity, but cook-
ing is one of the most critical joys of life and
an “art form.” This reinforces the belief that
Martinique is one of, if not, the richest melting
pot of Caribbean cuisine.
The Dominican Republic
According to the research findings, the
Dominican Republic, with its Spanish Colonial
heritage, had the second largest number of
occurrences of both specific text references (a
total of 82 references) and images (a total of
25 images) relating to the promotion of their
local cuisine (Table 3). This surpassed both
Jamaica and Aruba, irrespective of the limited
collateral material received. However, the con-
tent of the Dominican Republic’s materials was
concise and had a strong focus on promoting
its “Authentic Local Cuisine.” This was rep-
resented in both the text format and images.
This concept had a total of 42 text references,
which outperformed the other three countries—
Jamaica with five text references, Martinique
with three text references, and Aruba with only
one text reference. More specifically, much
emphasis was on examples of their local dishes.
In their national tourism guide “La Cotica,”
several examples—such as “Ají” (Pepper),
“Barbacoa” (Barbeque), “Batea” (Small Tub),
“Bija” (Anatto Fruit), “Bohío” (Hut), “Burén”
(Flat Griddle), and “Casabe” (Cassava)—were
mentioned. Also, two pages of a similar maga-
zine were dedicated in more detail about their
local gastronomy where an abundance of other
 422 JOURNAL OF TRAVEL & TOURISM MARKETING
local dishes were mentioned with its corre-
sponding history and origin.
Surprisingly, the Dominican Republic was
the only country promoting local coconuts as
part of their images (two images). This is
a common food commodity in the Caribbean
countries. Coconuts were extensively used in
Caribbean cuisine, such as in curry and peanut
sauces, and in Jamaican rice and peas, as well as
in deserts such as macaroons and grater cakes,
just to mention a few. More specifically, the
Dominican Republic’s NTO webpage had an
abundance of specific verbal references related
to what the island’s cuisine has to offer. This
included specific texts related to their traditional
dishes, dessert specialties, which included spe-
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
cific recipes related to their desserts; and bever-
ages, such as the “mamajuana,” which is known
as a “miracle” potion developed by local Taino
Indians in the past. Of particular interest was the
fact related to how women take pride in prepar-
ing these traditional dishes in the Dominican
Republic, where culinary specialties vary from
region to region.
Jamaica
Similar to the Dominican Republic, only
two printed materials (brochures and catalogs)
were received from the official tourist bureau
of Jamaica (Table 2). The “site map” of their
official website was also downloaded for inves-
tigation based on the methodology previously
described earlier. The study findings indicate
that Jamaica, with its British Colonial heritage,
had the third largest number of samples with
both specific text references (a total of 71 ref-
erences) and images (a total of 14) related to
the promotion of their local cuisine (Table 3).
However, regardless of the limited amount of
printed materials, some attributes stood out in
their marketing campaign. For example, com-
pared to the other three countries, Jamaica
seemed to place a great deal of emphasis
on the promotion of their “Local Fruits and
Vegetables” (Table 4). A total of 10 text refer-
ences and eight images are part of the printed
and digital information. This could be related
to the volcanic geographic characteristics that
run all through the eastern third of the country,
which according to the content portrays Jamaica
as the island of “land of wood and water.”
Jamaica is also known for its Blue Mountain
coffee, which has a reputation as one of the most
expensive and sought-after coffees in the world.
It is no surprise that the Jamaica Tourist Board
took this opportunity to include this exclusive
beverage as part of their marketing strategy.
A total of four text references and one image
were included in their promotional materials.
In addition, Jamaica’s local herbs and spices
were extensively promoted in their campaign.
Another interesting approach is the promo-
tion of the island’s organic farming (one text
reference), local agriculture (nine text refer-
ences), and horticulture (seven text references).
This could also be related to the island’s geo-
graphical characteristics. Another component
of the promotional materials received by the
researchers was the focus on local “Food and
Wine Festivals” and “Agricultural Shows” with
a total of nine text references. Only Jamaica
and Aruba mentioned the promotion of such
festivals in the collateral materials.
Compared to the other three countries,
Jamaica illustrates a strong cultural history doc-
umenting the foods that Jamaicans eat. The
promotion of local agriculture, horticulture, and
organic farming gives Jamaica a competitive
advantage. Two of the brochures received from
the Jamaica Tourist Board were the “One Love
Jamaica,” and “One Love Jamaica Attractions &
Tours.” These highlighted the country’s his-
tory, culture, geography, resorts, flora and fauna,
shopping, and other attractions on the island.
This brochure also included an array of text
references and images relating to their locally
produced food. There was a focus on the his-
tory behind the eating habits of Jamaicans,
and how “jerking” was used as a method of
spicing and cooking pork underground so that
the smoke would not be seen and where the
meat can be preserved. Today, jerked products—
pork, chicken, and fish—were found at locations
throughout the country. The strong cultural her-
itage connection with Africa and how different
fruits were brought from that continent are also
illustrated both in text references and images.
Fruits and vegetables like “Ackee,” “Yams,”
“Pickapeppa,” and “Cassava” were extensively
 Okumus et al.
mentioned throughout the text. In general,
Jamaica, with its diverse cultural background,
possesses a melting pot of different cooking
techniques and exotic fruits and vegetables pro-
duced in the country.
Aruba
The study findings indicate that, Aruba, with
its Dutch Colonial heritage, had specific text ref-
erences (a total of 64 references) and images (a
total of 9 images) relating to the promotion of
their local cuisine (Table 3). This surpasses the
other three countries—Martinique, Jamaica, and
the Dominican Republic. Regardless of the lim-
ited number of texts and images compared to the
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
three other islands, Aruba had the highest num-
ber of texts (36 total) with the promotion of their
“Authentic Local Dishes”; this compared to the
34 text references from Martinique, 11 from
Jamaica, and 7 from the Dominican Republic.
It is important to highlight this finding, as
Aruba’s geographical characteristics, compared
to the other three countries, is almost entirely
flat, with a very dry climate.
Surprisingly, Aruba is the only country pro-
moting their local chefs with significant empha-
sis on promoting local restaurants through the
local Aruba Gastronomical Association (AGA)
and its special dining programs. As it relates to
image specific attributes, Aruba is very limited
in its use of the specific images used in pro-
moting their local cuisines. Ironically, the Aruba
materials were inconsistent with the amount of
text references presented related to this field.
The Aruba NTO webpage had whole pages ded-
icated to specific images and text references
related to what the island’s cuisine has to offer.
A unique feature of the Aruba materials was
the organization of food and wine festivals. This
clearly indicates that promoting their local cui-
sine is an important marketing strategy. Overall,
Aruba’s NTO webpage had a very comprehen-
sive approach to promoting their local cuisine.
Although the focus of this research is the use
of local cuisine in the promotion of tourism to
the four selected Caribbean island destinations,
the research materials all document the avail-
ability of international cuisine for guests who
would rather not enjoy the local cuisine. This
423
international cuisine is available to all guests.
The images include those of happy guests
and Caribbean nationals enjoying the cuisine
that is available at their respective Caribbean
destinations.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
This study aimed to compare how four
Caribbean small islands use their local cuisines
to promote their destinations. Based on the
study findings, it can be concluded that of
the four islands, Martinique had the largest
number of instances of both specific text ref-
erences and images related to the promotion
of their local cuisine. The amount and num-
ber of pieces of information received in the
form of printed materials from Martinique’s
NTO surpassed those of the other three coun-
tries. Not only did Martinique surpass the other
countries with the total count, but the specifics
related to the authenticity of their cuisine—
namely, the history, classification, fusion, and
influence affecting their cuisine—outperformed
these same characteristics of the other countries
in the study. The promotion of organic farming
and agri-tourism indicates that Martinique will
have a competitive edge over the other coun-
tries. However, it should be noted that each
island has its individual strategy of promoting
their local cuisine. Aruba, for example, had an
entire page dedicated to specific images and
text references related to the composition of
the country’s authentic cuisine. Moreover, their
continuous efforts in organizing food and wine
festivals should indicate their awareness of the
importance of promoting their local cuisine as a
strategy to diversify their tourism portfolio. The
quality of the content of their promotion strat-
egy as it relates to local cuisines should not be
undermined.
Jamaica had similar results to Aruba and the
Dominican Republic. Jamaica, with its strong
and diverse cultural history portraying what and
how Jamaicans eat, has also provided a sub-
stantial number of images and a significant
amount of text related to their local cuisine.
In particular, their promotion of agriculture,
horticulture, and organic farming also puts the
 424 JOURNAL OF TRAVEL & TOURISM MARKETING
island in a competitive mode when it comes to
future approaches of promoting agri-tourism as
a strategy for economic development and diver-
sification. Even though limited information was
received from the Dominican Republic’s NTO,
the content of the printed materials is concise
with a strong focus on promoting their local
cuisine. Several local dishes were highlighted
both in text format and images. Their combina-
tion of music, history, culture, and their cuisine
can be a major contributor in developing loyal
customers.
Overall, the quality and depth of informa-
tion provided in the materials provided by the
NTOs were not all to the same professional
standard. Nor was the same level of sophistica-
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
tion evident in the construction of the images
used in the materials. In addition, interesting
texts and images were presented, but very lim-
ited information was given about its authentic-
ity, historical background, and origin of food
commodities. In particular, brochures, booklets,
and webpages on sub-regions of the destina-
tion gave very limited or superficial description
about local and regional cuisine. This is disap-
pointing to the authors, since the Caribbean is
a region that offers diverse regional cuisines,
which in turn could be promoted to enhance and
diversify its tourism portfolio. The information
provided for each country’s authentic cuisine
tended to list different types of food and was
far from promoting the destination as a culinary
tourism haven. Based on this finding, it can be
suggested that each of the case study destina-
tions needs to go beyond just listing different
types of food and drinks they have, but further
explain and illustrate what type of exemplary
and local food and drink experiences that they
can offer to their visitors.
Kivela and Crotts (2006) note that tourists
often dine out in search of new tastes and
culinary experiences, or when they discover a
new vineyard, they may also encounter disap-
pointment because of the manufactured image.
Therefore, it is important to offer unique
gastronomy. According to the research find-
ings, the four countries studied offer local
cuisine experiences and they do emphasize
authenticity, which is important (Fox, 2007;
Sims, 2009). However, this does not mean that
such authenticity is available in every dining
establishment in each country. In fact, food and
beverage options from different countries and
cultures are offered in the four study destina-
tions since not all tourists may like to try local
cuisines.
This research does not endeavor to indi-
cate that culinary tourism is the most impor-
tant aspect of destination marketing for these
four countries and therefore should dominate all
collateral marketing materials, brochures, and
websites. The study findings rather imply that
collateral materials should reflect the combina-
tion of dining offerings available so that unique
memorable experiences abound. Although it
might be expected that first-time visitors will
be more inquisitive about the cuisines available,
repeat visitors and gastronomic tourists might
well be less apprehensive about local cuisines.
Some visitors are more concerned with portion
size, inexpensive cost, and the ready availabil-
ity of food and beverage. Visitors with these
motivations are very at home in the all-inclusive
accommodation establishments, many of which
include local food items as choices on their
menus.
It might be expected that each of the destina-
tions in the study would have a strong historic
and cultural bond with their colonial metropoli-
tan countries. The fact that Martinique remains
a Department of France, lends itself to just such
a strong connection. The Caribbean countries
selected in this research sought to provide a
balance of the different colonial backgrounds
of each island. Although the cuisine of the
Dutch, Aruba; French, Martinique; and Spanish,
the Dominican Republic, maintains strong influ-
ences of their colonial heritage, this is much less
so in the British, Jamaican tradition. This may
be the result of the strong African influence,
along with the influences of post-emancipation
migration of Indian and Chinese workers. What
is evident is that there is richness in the cuisine
of each of the countries in the study that is a
result of the mingling of the traditions of the
peoples who currently reside in that country.
Ignatov and Smith (2006) propose three seg-
ments of culinary tourists—which are food
tourists, wine tourists, and food and wine
tourists; they further note that promotional
 Okumus et al.
materials on culinary tourism should be tailored
to different culinary groups. Food related pro-
motional materials should emphasize family and
friends, and wine related promotional materi-
als should highlight romance and quality expe-
riences, whereas wine tourists may use the
Internet and online promotional materials more
than food tourists. The destination collateral
material available for content analysis in this
current research study was not sufficiently dif-
ferentiated to determine if it is targeted as a
specific segment. The fact that these were the
materials disseminated in a general call by a
person interested in obtaining information for
a vacation, would tend to indicate the non-
specialized nature of the materials. This finding
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
implies that perhaps destinations should develop
collateral materials to target a specific segment
of culinary tourists.
The development of food and dining festi-
vals supports du Rand and Heath’s (2006) sug-
gestion that in order to market and pro-
mote destinations for culinary tourism, destina-
tions need to develop and offer food tourism
unique enhancers and experiences. These food
enhancers should touch positively on the visi-
tor’s overall cultural experience, social status,
cultural identity, communication, and sharing.
While Harvey (2011) indicates that such food
and dining events are being conducted, it is not
clear to the extent that they are being actively
promoted by Caribbean NTOs. In other words,
the four study destinations should focus more
on promoting food and dining festivals when
promoting their destinations.
Frochot (2003) notes that food tourism
can be conceptualized as allowing tourists to
achieve desires relating to relaxation, excite-
ment, escapism, status, education, and lifestyle.
When promoting local cuisines, issues might
be addressed explicitly or implicitly. For
example, Frochot (2003) found that country
dishes and raw products appeared more in
regional brochures in France, whereas images
of chefs and people preparing and experiencing
food were underrepresented. Frochot’s research
found that status and lifestyle related to food
were not highly presented in regional brochures
in France. The small size of the Caribbean
countries tends to de-emphasize sub-regional
425
variations in cuisine. What is more significant is
the social class divides that can be represented
in the local cuisine. The food of the working
class, the items consumed, and the methods of
preparation in many instances can be traced
back to the period of enslavement. The social
elite’s consumables are much more closely akin
to their social counterparts in the metropolitan
areas. In effect there is a duality of food culture
in the Caribbean that was not sufficiently rep-
resented or articulated in materials provided for
this research by the NTOs.
Finally, it is truly evident that communica-
tion technology provides the effectiveness of
websites. Information sharing, data collecting,
transaction and relationship building as articu-
lated in Wan (2002), does provide a significant
opportunity to incorporate cuisine and local cui-
sine in destination promotion. Although all four
destinations use their local cuisine in promot-
ing their destinations, it is evident that there
is still a need for them to develop expertise
in culinary tourism and promoting it through
brochures, catalogs, websites, and other promo-
tional materials to be able to reach the right
culinary segment. This is the first study of its
kind that discusses culinary tourism and how
Caribbean Islands promote their destinations by
using their local cuisines. It is hoped that the
research findings and above discussions help
destination marketing and management officials
as well as generate further research projects in
this area.
Limitations and Future Research
This exploratory study has a number of limi-
tations, which are worth noting. When carrying
out this study, every attempt was made to collect
all relevant and recent brochures and book-
lets from the case study destinations. Although
the main ones were collected from each of
the four countries, some other brochures and
booklets or magazines might have been inad-
vertently missed. In addition, although there
are similarities between these four Caribbean
countries, there are also differences in terms
of culture, colonial background, geographic
characteristics, and location. By using the
framework employed in this study, a future
 426 JOURNAL OF TRAVEL & TOURISM MARKETING
study can be undertaken comparing the remain-
der of the Caribbean countries. By investigating
the different marketing strategies using local
cuisine of islands in the Caribbean, the findings
can assist tourism stakeholders with suggestions
in designing effective promotional materials in
order to obtain a share of the market of culinary
tourists. This could in turn raise the profile of
the local cuisine and its products and influence
consumers’ attitudes. In addition, the applica-
tion of this content analysis technique was to
assess, validate, and verify the message, which
destinations were using to market themselves.
Although many Caribbean tourism destinations
endeavor to deviate from the sea, sand, and sun
image that they portray, in reality are the images
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
used to promote the destination compatible with
that desire?
Foods and drinks offered at a destination can
be an important element of the destination expe-
rience and they can be a significant motive for
travel. However, it is recognized that not all vis-
itors may be sufficiently adventurous as to want
to consume local cuisine at each meal during
their vacation. So while it may be appropriate to
display local cuisine in collateral material, vis-
itors may want to be assured that international
cuisine is available. This raises the question
of what might be an appropriate ratio of local
to international cuisine in destination images,
along with an appropriate ratio of gastronomic
experiences to other destination experiences.
This would also relate to the specific target audi-
ence of the communication. For example, in the
Literature Review section of this article, discus-
sions were provided on culinary tourists types.
One may not fully agree with such specific clas-
sifications as they are generally based on the
assumption that a tourist may travel to a desti-
nations with the sole purpose of trying different
foods and drinks. It is generally accepted in
tourism research that if a respondent agrees to
a degree with the statement “I would consider
myself to be a culinary tourist, someone who
travels to different places to try different foods”
they can be classified as a culinary tourist. This
assumption has not been extensively questioned.
People may travel to try different foods and
drinks, but they may not consider themselves
as culinary tourists because this may not be
their main reason to travel. Future studies per-
haps should ask the respondents whether their
sole reason for choosing the destinations is to
experience the local foods and drinks. If there
is a significant portion of the participants who
strongly agree with this statement, it can be
concluded that there is a niche segment for culi-
nary tourism. It is possible that not many people
travel to a specific destination to experience a
cuisine.
There is still limited evidence about what
type of food related information tourists seek.
Asking potential tourists or incoming tourists
to the Caribbean about this topic may pro-
vide further insights about what type of food
and drinks related information should be pro-
vided in brochures, booklets, and webpages.
In addition, one can further investigate the travel
decision-making behavior of tourists (Martin &
Woodside, 2012) who primarily go on holiday
to the Caribbean in search of a local cuisine.
This can assist not only in designing promo-
tional materials, but also targeting the right
segments of these four destinations. Finally,
future work may utilize social media—such as
Trip Advisor, Facebook, and Twitter, along with
blogs—in obtaining comments and learning of
the gastronomic experiences of tourists when
they visit tourist destinations. Photos uploaded
by tourists which portray foods and drinks in
a destination can also be content analyzed in
future food research.
REFERENCES
Acheson, D. (1990). Food—The vital ingredient. In
Handbook of tourism. London, United Kingdom:
Horwarth and Horwarth, MacMillan Press.
Au, N., & Law, R. (2002). Categorical classification of
tourism dining. Annals of Tourism Research, 29(3),
819–833.
Bessiere, J. (1998). Local development and heritage:
Traditional food and cuisine as tourist attractions in
rural areas. Sociologia Ruralis, 38(1), 21–34.
Boniface, P. (2003). Tasting tourism: Travelling for food
and drink. Aldershot, United Kingdom: Ashgate.
Boyne, S., Hall, D., & Williams, F. (2003). Policy, sup-
port and promotion for food-related tourism initia-
tives: A marketing approach to regional development.
Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 14(3–4),
131–154.
 Okumus et al.
Buhalis, D. (2000). Marketing the competitive destination
of the future. Tourism Management, 21(1), 97–116.
Burman, J. (2007, June). Heritage tourism in the
Caribbean: Global collective memory in two guises.
Paper presented at Collective Memory and Collective
Knowledge in a Global Age—An Interdisciplinary
Workshop, London, United Kingdom.
Caribbean Development Bank. (1991, December).
Purchasing patterns of the hotel sector in the B.V.I.
and the O.E.C.S. countries—Final report. Bridgetown,
Barbados: Ernst & Young.
Caribbean Tourism Organization. (2006, March).
Agriculture and Tourism Partners in Development—
Report on the Agro-Tourism Workshop, St. Kitts &
Nevis, 3–5 October 2005. Retrieved from http://www.
onecaribbean.org/content/files/Agrotourism
WorkshopReport2005.pdf
Caribbean Tourism Organization. (2011, February).
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
Caribbean tourism—State of the industry 2011.
Retrieved from http://www.onecaribbean.org/
content/files/CaribbeanTourismStateIndustry
Feb272011. pdf
CARICOM Export Development Project. (1991,
December). Purchasing patterns of the hotel
sector—Final report .Bridgetown, Barbados: Ernst &
Young.
Central Intelligence Agency. (2011). The world factbook:
Aruba. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/
publications/the-world-factbook/geos/aa.html
Choi, S. Lehto, X., & Morrison, A. (2007). Destination
image representation on the web: Content analysis of
Macau travel related websites. Tourism Management,
28(1), 117–129.
Cohen, E., & Avieli, N. (2004). Food in tourism: Attraction
and impediment. Annals of Tourism Research, 31(4),
755–778.
Conway, D., & Timms, B. F. (2010). Re-branding alter-
native tourism in the Caribbean: The case for “slow
tourism.” Tourism and Hospitality Research, 10(4),
329–344.
Cox, C., & Wray, M. (2011). Best practice marketing for
regional tourism destinations. Journal of Travel and
Tourism Marketing, 28(5), 524–540.
Croes, R. (2006). A paradigm shift to a new strategy for
small island economies: Embracing demand side eco-
nomics for value enhancement and long-term stability.
Tourism Management, 27(3), 453–465.
Discover Martinique. (2011). Discover Martinique:
History. Retrieved from http://www.in-west-indies.
com/martinique/discover/history.htm
Doolin, B., Burgess, L., & Cooper, J. (2002). Evaluating
the use of the web for tourism marketing: A case
study from New Zealand. Tourism Management, 23(5),
557–561.
Douglas, A., & Mills, J. E. (2004). Staying afloat in the
Tropics: Applying a structural equation model approach
to evaluating national tourism organization websites in
427
the Caribbean. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing,
17(2–3), 269–293.
du Rand, G., & Heath, E. (2006). Towards a framework for
food tourism as an element of destination marketing.
Current Issues in Tourism, 9(3), 206–234.
du Rand, G., Heath, E., & Alberts, N. (2003). The role
of local and regional food in destination marketing:
A South African situation analysis. Journal of Travel
and Tourism Marketing, 14 (3–4), 97–112.
Echtner, C. M., & Prasad, P. (2003). The context of third
world tourism marketing. Annals of Tourism Research,
30(3), 660–682.
Enteleca Research and Consultancy. (2000). Tourists’
attitudes towards regional and local foods. Retrieved
from http://tourisminsights.info/ONLINEPUB/
FARMING%20AND%20FOOD/FOOD%20PDFS/
tourist%20attitutes%20to%20local%20foods.pdf
Faulkner, B. (1997). A model for the evaluation of national
tourism destination marketing programs. Journal of
Travel Research, 35(3), 23–32.
Finn, M., Elliot-White, M., & Walton, M. (2000).
Tourism & leisure research methods. Essex, United
Kingdom: Pearson Education.
Fox, R. (2007). Reinventing the gastronomic identity of
Croatian tourist destinations. International Journal of
Hospitality Management, 26(3), 546–559.
Frochot, I. (2003). An analysis of regional positioning and
its associated food images in French tourism regional
brochures. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing,
14(3–4), 77–96.
Fuller, A. (1999, May). Tourism development in the
Dominican Republic: Growth, costs, benefits and
choices. Retrieved from http://kiskeya-alternative.
org/publica/afuller/rd-tourism.html#tourdev
Govers, R., & Go, F. (2005). Projected destination image
online: Website content analysis of pictures and text.
Information Technology and Tourism, 7(1), 73–89.
Grbich, C. (2007). Qualitative data analysis. London,
United Kingdom: Sage.
Gretzel, U., Yuan, Y. L., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2000).
Preparing for the new economy: Advertising strate-
gies and change in destination marketing organizations.
Journal of Travel Research, 39(2), 146–156.
Hall, C. M., & Mitchell, R. D. (2005). Gastronomic
tourism: Comparing food and wine tourism expe-
riences. In M. Novelli (Ed.), Niche tourism:
Contemporary issues, trends and cases (pp. 73–88).
Oxford, United Kingdom: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Hall, C. M., & Sharples, L (2003). The consumption
of experiences or the experience of consumption?
An introduction to the tourism of taste. In M. Hall,
L. Sharples, R. Mitchell, N. Macionis, & B. Cambourne
(Eds.), Food tourism around the world: Development,
management and markets (pp. 1–24). Oxford, United
Kingdom: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Harvey, E. (2011). Rural livelihoods and agrotourism.
Paper presented at the 11th Caribbean Sustainable
 428 JOURNAL OF TRAVEL & TOURISM MARKETING
Tourism Workshop, Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre,
Barbados.
Hashimoto, A., & Telfer, D. (2006). Selling Canadian culi-
nary tourism: Branding the global and regional product.
Tourism Geographies, 8(1), 31–55.
Henderson, J. (2009). Food tourism reviewed. British Food
Journal, 111(4), 317–326.
Hills, J., & Carirncross, G. (2011). Small accommo-
dation providors and UGC websites: Perceptions
and practices. International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management, 23(1), 26–43.
Hjalager, A. (2002). A typology of gastronomy tourism.
In A. Hjalager & G. Richards (Eds.), Tourism and
gastronomy (pp. 21–35). London, United Kingdom:
Routledge.
Hodson, R. (1999). Analyzing documentary accounts.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Horng, J., & Tsai, C. (2010). Government websites for pro-
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
moting East Asian culinary tourism: A cross-national
analysis. Tourism Management, 31(1), 74–85.
Hsieh, H., & Shannon, S. (2005). Three approaches
to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health
Research, 15(9), 1127–1288.
Hu, Y., & Ritchie, J. (1993). Measuring destination attrac-
tiveness: A contextual approach. Journal of Travel
Research, 32(2), 25–35.
Hudson, S., & Miller, G. A. (2004). The responsible mar-
keting of tourism: The case of Canadian mountain
holidays. Tourism Management, 26(2), 133–142.
Ignatov, E., & Smith, S. (2006). Segmenting Canadian
culinary tourists. Current Issues in Tourism, 9(3),
235–255.
Jamaica Tourist Board. (2011) Tourism development in
Jamaica—A synopsis. Retrieved from http://www.
jtbonline.org/tourism_jamaica/Pages/Tourismin
Jamaica.aspx
Jayawardena, C. (2002). Mastering Caribbean tourism.
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management, 14(2), 88–93.
Jenkins, O. H. (1999). Understanding and measuring
tourist destination images. International Journal of
Tourism Research, 1(1), 1–15.
Kemp, S., & Dwyer, L. (2003). Mission statements
of international airlines: A content analysis. Tourism
Management, 24(6), 635–653.
Kivela, J., & Crotts, J. (2006). Tourism and gastronomy:
Gastronomy’s influence on how tourists experience
a destination. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism
Research, 30(3), 354–377.
Lim, C. C., & Cooper, C. (2009). Beyond sustainability:
Optimizing island tourism development. International
Journal of Tourism Research, 11(1), 89–103.
Long, L. M. (2003). Culinary tourism. Lexington: The
University Press of Kentucky.
Martin, D., & Woodside, W. (2012). Structure and pro-
cess modelling of seemingly unstructured leisure-
travel decisions and behaviour. International Journal
of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 24(6),
855–872.
McKercher, B., Okumus, F., & Okumus, B. (2008). Food
tourism as a viable market segment: It is all how
you cook the numbers! Journal of Travel and Tourism
Marketing, 25(2), 137–148.
McWilliams, M., & Heller, H. (2003). Food around the
world: A cultural perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Meyer, D. (2006). Caribbean tourism, local sourcing
and enterprise development: Review of literature(Pro-
Poor Tourism Working Paper No. 18). London, United
Kingdom: Overseas Development Institute.
Neuman, W. (2003). Social research methods: Qualitative
and quantitative approaches. Boston, MA: Allyn and
Bacon.
Nicholson, R., & Pearce, D. (2000). Who goes to events:
A comparative analysis of the profile characteristics of
visitors to four South Island events in New Zealand.
Journal of Vacation Marketing, 6(2), 236–253.
Nickerson, N. P. (1995). Tourism and gambling content
analysis. Annals of Tourism Research, 22(1), 53–66.
Okumus, B., Okumus, F., & McKercher, B. (2007).
Incorporating local and international cuisines in the
marketing of tourism destinations: The cases of
Hong Kong and Turkey. Tourism Management, 28(1),
253–261.
Quan, S., & Wang, N. (2004). Towards a structural model
of the tourist experience: An illustration from food
experiences in tourism. Tourism Management, 25(3),
297–305.
Rimmington, M., and Yuksel, A. (1998). Tourist satisfac-
tion and food service experience: Results and impli-
cations of an empirical investigation. Anatolia, 9(1),
37–57.
Ritchie, J. R., Tung, V., & Ritchie, R. J. (2011). Tourism
Experience measurement research: Emergence, evo-
lution and future directions. Intenational Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management, 23(4), 419–
438.
Ryu, K., Lee, H., and Kim, W. (2012). The influence
of the quality of the physical environment, food,
and service on restaurant image, customer perceived
value, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions.
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management, 24(2), 200–223
Scheyvens, R., & Momsen, J. (2008). Tourism in small
island states: From vulnerability to strengths. Journal
of Sustainable Tourism, 16(5), 491–510.
Sims, R. (2009). Food, place and authenticity: Local
food and sustainable tourism experience. Journal of
Sustainable Tourism, 17(3), 321–336.
Smith, S., and Xiao, H. (2010). Culinary tourism supply
chain: A preliminary examination. Journal of Travel
Research, 46(1), 289–299.
Telfer, D. (2000). Tastes of Niagara: Building strate-
gic alliances between tourism and agriculture.
 Okumus et al.
International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism
Administration, 1(1), 71–88.
Tsang, N., Chan, G., & Ho, K. (2011). A holis-
tic approach to understanding the use of travel
guidebooks: Pre, during, and post-trip behavior.
Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 28(7),
720–735.
Wan, C. (2002). The web sites of international tourist
hotels and tour wholesalers in Taiwan. Tourism
Management, 23(2), 155–160.
Woodside, A., Vicente, R., & Dugue, M. (2011). Tourism’s
destinations dominance and marketing website use-
fulness. International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management, 23(4), 552–564.
World Travel and Tourism Council. (2011a). Travel and
tourism’s economic impact 2011, Aruba. London,
United Kingdom: Author.
World Travel and Tourism Council. (2011b). Travel and
Downloaded by [201.229.8.29] at 07:41 03 March 2014
tourism’s economic impact 2011, Dominican Republic.
London, United Kingdom: Author.
View publication stats
429
World Travel and Tourism Council. (2011c). Travel and
tourism’s economic impact 2011, Jamaica. London,
United Kingdom: Author.
World Travel and Tourism Council. (2011d). Travel and
tourism economic impact 2011, Martinique. London,
United Kingdom: Author.
Ye, H., & Tussyadiah, I. (2011). Destination visual image
and expectation of experiences. Journal of Travel and
Tourism Marketing, 28(2), 129–124.
Yin, R. (2003) Case study research design and methods.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Yuksel, A. (2001). Managing customer satisfaction and
retention: A case of tourist destinations, Turkey.
Journal of Vocational Marketing, 7(2), 153–168.
SUBMITTED: November 4, 2011
FINAL REVISION SUBMITTED:
May 7, 2012
ACCEPTED: August 8, 2012
REFEREED ANONYMOUSLY