Impact of dining-out experience during holiday on the revisitintention within the scope of expectation confirmation theory: The case of gastronomy cities

The tourists are in expectation with respect to the cuisine of the destinations or the regions they visit during their travels; because the dining-out activities for the tourists should satisfy their experimental expectations rather than their hunger. Therefore, the tourists, whose expectations with respect to dining out experiences are satisfied during their holidays, recommend these places to others, talk about their experiences positively and wish to revisit such places again. The aim of this study is to identify whether the expectations of the local tourists, who have visited Gastronomy Cities (Gaziantep, Hatay and Afyonkarahisar), have been satisfied. In line with the said purpose, questionnaires have been made for the local tourists, who have visited Gastronomy Cities and experienced their food. Expectation Confirmation Theory, which is one of the mostly preferred theories of customer satisfaction, has been used for determination of the expectations of the tourists related with their dining experiences. This study also focuses on whether the dining trends of the tourists during holiday make moderator impact on tourist satisfaction and revisit intention. The target population of the study consists of the domestic tourists visiting Gastronomy cities (Gaziantep, Hatay and Afyonkarahisar). Within this scope, data collected from total 1152 participants, who visited Gastronomy cities in February, March and April 2020, have been studied. It has been observed upon analysis of the findings that the variables of expectation in the scope of the theory, performance of the experienced product, confirmation and satisfaction make positive impact on the revisit intention of the tourists. The trend to look for new food during holiday, which is identified as the moderator variable in this study, makes positive impact on revisit intention. However, it has been concluded upon comparing the destinations visited by the tourists that the satisfaction of the local tourists in terms of dining experience varies according to the destination they visit.