Relationship between Consumer Motivation and the Gastronomic Experience of Olive Oil Tourism in Spain

Abstract

The rise of new tourist typologies as a result of the change in the motivations of tourists and the increasingly active awareness of the environment are making these new tourist activities more sustainable. The development of typologies such as oleotourism or, more globally, gastronomic tourism is formed as an engine of socio-economic development wherever it is inserted, being even more important and decisive if it develops in rural areas. This study is based on a model of structural equations based on minimum partial squares. A sample size of 414 surveys was used, all of which were collected in the oil mills and museums of the towns of Baena, Cabra, Luque and Montilla, all of which belong to the province of Córdoba, Spain. This study develops a model based on motivations and gastronomic experience resulting from the development of oleotourism in the rural areas of the province of Córdoba (Spain). Among the most noteworthy results it is worth highlighting the positive influence of motivations on the gastronomic experience of tourists. In addition, the predictive relevance of the model is demonstrated.