relationship of sustainable tourism management and service quality

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Sustainable tourism development and competitiveness: The systematic literature review

Dalia streimikiene.

1 Institute for Sport Science and Innovation, Lithuanian Sports University, Kaunas Lithuania

Biruta Svagzdiene

2 Department of Sport and Tourism Management, Lithuanian Sports University, Kaunas Lithuania

Edmundas Jasinskas

Arturas simanavicius.

Tourism is one of most perspective and dynamic businesses in the world. It is of great significance to plan and develop tourism purposefully and sustainably though the search for compromises between environmental, economic and social aims of society. The sustainable tourism development management has to retain high satisfaction degree of tourists' needs, assure significant experience for consumers, increasing their consciousness under issues of sustainability, and propagating practices of sustainable tourism among them. The significance of sustainable tourism sector development ambition is analysed in this paper through the lens of strengthening its competitiveness. The paper analyses scientific literature and seeks to discover the main forms and factors for the strengthening of the tourism competitiveness by implementing economic, social and environmental targets of tourism destination territories development. The broad systematic literature review provided for some interesting findings: The business participants are interested in the implementation of new technologies in tourism services having positive impact on environment and local communities; however, a lot of challenges exist how to change environment, increase of consumers' motivations for sustainable tourism services and to change their behaviour towards more sustainable one. The current Covid 19 outbreak and high risks of future pandemics have risen new challenges for sustainable tourism development. In this paper the main sustainable tourist development challenges are addressed and new insights for the strengthening of competitiveness of sustainable tourism destination are provided. The future research guidelines are set based on analysis performed.

• The systematic review of literature on sustainable tourism
• The trade‐off between sustainability and competitiveness
• The main challenges of sustainable tourist development
• New insights for the strengthening of competitiveness of sustainable tourism
• The future research guidelines are set based on analysis performed

1. INTRODUCTION

Travels have already become an inseparable part of human lives. Neither global world problems nor the terrorism threat cannot defeat a passion to travel. In the year 2019, in the world there travelled about 1.4 billion of the planet population (UNWTO, 2019 ). However, tourism as any other economic field not does only bring some economic benefits to states, but it also creates some serious problems as excessive energy consumption and increasing negative environmental effects including climatic change. Also due to tourism and travel expansions the nature is being wasted, tourist destinations suffer from high tourist flows and the life quality of the local people is also negatively affected. In order to decrease negative tourism effects, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) announced the year 2017 – the year of sustainable tourism and invited all world population to travel, following the principles of sustainable tourism and to turn to local communities (UNWTO, 2017 ).

The topicality of the research is related to the fact that many scientists have noticed the great challenges for sustainable tourism due to rapid growth of tourism services; however, at the moment there is a lack in sustainability as a such rapid growth has impact on unsustainable solutions in tourism sector. In this paper the key challenges of sustainable tourism development are addressed and some ideas about possible consolidation of the competitiveness in a tourism sector and sustainable development of tourism destinations are given. The research is based on systematic literature review to assess the current degree of research and to deliver guideline for further research in sustainable tourism field. The sustainable tourism issues were researched by UNWTO ( 2017 ), UNWTO ( 2014 ); Lu and Nepal ( 2009 ); Alvarez and Cooper ( 2014 ); Waseema ( 2017 ); Pjerotic, Delibasic, Joksiene, Griesiene, and Georgeta ( 2017 ); Pjerotic ( 2017 ). Coenen and Truffer ( 2012 ); Butler ( 1999 ); Mihalič, Šegota, Knežević Cvelbar, and Kuščer ( 2016 ); Waligo, Clarke, and Hawkins ( 2013 ); Kangwa (2017); Streimikiene, & Bilan, 2015); Agyeiwaah, McKercher, and Suntikul ( 2017 ) etc. The linkages between tourism and sustainable development of tourist destinations were also addressed in various studies (Egresi & Kara, 2018 ; Jeon et al., 2016 ; Madhavan & Rastogi, 2013 ; Nunkoo & So, 2016 ; Pesonen & Komppula, 2010 ; Woo, Kim, & Uysal, 2015 ). The competitiveness issues in tourism development were concentrated in several important studies by Crouch and Ritchie ( 1999 ); Hassan ( 2000 ); Mihalič ( 2000 ); Croes and Kubickova ( 2013 ).

Despite plenty of research in this area, sustainable development of tourism is a dynamic process that is constantly experiencing new challenges as there are changing the applied technologies and consumption aspects of tourism. The scientific problem: what are the current prospects of sustainable tourism in consolidation with the competitiveness of a tourism sector? The main goal of this paper is based on literature review to indicate the prospects of consolidation of sustainability and competitiveness in tourism development by taking into account the recent trends of development.

The rest of the paper of structured in the following way: Section 2 deals with the concept of sustainable tourism and addresses the main challenges of sustainable tourism and the main issues of competitiveness; Section 3 provides sustainable tourism development prospects by consolidating the issues competitiveness of tourism industries and sustainable development priorities of tourism destinations; Section 4 concludes and provides policy implications.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. sustainable tourism.

Sustainable development is the main concept of development and tourism has enormous economic, environmental and social impact in the modern world therefore the development of this sector is linked with all three mentioned dimensions of sustainability. As global economy, social and technological development processes are still expanding, the analysis of new and specific forms, present in business is necessary in tourism as well in order to achieve sustainable development of tourism. One of them involves the clusters, gaining a greater significance – to locate in one network geographical companies and establishments that closely cooperate and that are focused on mutual business results and ones that complement each other. The innovations are expected to contribute to breakthroughs at the international level and that may determine companies' operation under new effective organizational forms that generalize ideas, provide with some competitive advantage and open new possibilities in tourism as well (Agyeiwaah et al., 2017 ). Therefore, sustainable tourism development issues are closely linked with competitiveness through increasing innovations in all areas relevant to business operations. In addition, tourism is described as a business, distinguishing by its great variety, integrity and multi‐planning. Precisely, great interconnection of structural components, shaping tourism business, allow presumptions for the companies, providing tourism service, to cooperate in the implementation of innovations (Madhavan & Rastogi, 2013 ).

Tourism has been acknowledged as one of the most significant economic sectors in major countries of the worlds. According to World Travel and Tourism Council ( 2020 ) in 2018, the Travel & Tourism sector experienced 3.9% growth, outpacing that of the global economy (3.2%) for the eighth consecutive year. Over the past 5 years, one in five jobs were created by the sector, making Travel & Tourism the best partner for governments to generate employment. Therefore, tourism as one of the world's largest economic sectors, supporting one in 10 jobs (319 million) worldwide, and generating 10.4% of global GDP. Although tourism market is dependent on the health and natural environment; however, simultaneously it often affects them negatively. Therefore, environmental issues of tourism development require special attention and were addressed by several important studies (Butler, 1999 ; Lu, & Nepal, 2009; Pjerotic et al., 2017 ; Waligo et al, 2013).

The term of green tourism is mainly linked tourism addressing environmental issues of tourism (Lu et al. (2009). The research of the year 2018 disclosed that tourism contributes to the amount of the emission of the carbon dioxide in the world by 8% (Lenzen et al., 2018 ). Thus, the significance of the sustainable tourism is currently of the greatest importance. As a result, several future guidelines for developed for sustainable tourism providing main environmental indicators for tourism sector including climate change mitigation, pollution reduction, use of renewables, waste disposal etc. (UNEP, 2004 ; UNWTO, 2013 , 2014 , 2017 ). As was already mentioned before, innovations, research and technological development can provide significant solutions for dealing with environmental challenges of tourism development. The European Economy is recovering after the Great Crisis however there are new challenges liked to the threats of world pandemic. In the presence of such a situation, the pace of technological development has been slowed and as a result there is a harm not only for economy, but also for nature as further steps towards utilisation of renewables are lacking. The use of renewables has direct impact on climate change mitigation. The outcomes of the previous economic crisis are still being felt around the world, and as the growth of other countries' economies slowed; the European economy has just few chances to turn into a powerful economic force. Investment into technological development is being observed as well as focus on social issues of sustainability. It is also significant to mention that in case of improving life quality – tourism is playing important role. The quality of life is one of the most important targets of sustainable development also relevant to tourism sector in terms of providing services for tourist as well as taking into account quality of life of residents in tourist destinations (Crouch, & Ritchie, 1999; Hassan, 2000 ; Jeon et al., 2016 ). Generalizing the expressed statements, the presumptions can be created, for finding the ways to maximize the quality of life in the future and accordingly to avoid a new economic crisis around the world (Kakoudakis, McCabe, & Story, 2017 ; Morgan, Pritchard, & Sedgley, 2015 ).

According to Agyeiwaah (Madhavan & Rastogi, 2013 ), even though there have been created unbelievably many indicators, following which, it would be possible to identify the advance of sustainable development in the tourism sector; however, principally it turned out that the following does not work. The authors (Agyeiwaah et al., 2017 ; Coenen & Truffer, 2012 ; Fayos‐Solà et al., 2014 ; Jasinskas & Simanavičienė, 2009 ; Kangwa, 2017 ; Macdonald & Jolliffe, 2003 ; Mihalič et al., 2016 ; Pjerotic, 2017 ; Pjerotic et al., 2017 ; Waligo, 2013; Waseema, 2017 ; Smagurauskienė, 2009 ; Streimikiene & Bilan, 2015 ) are trying to answer the question if different theories, calculations and other mechanisms of sustainable development assure more successful and sustainable development of tourism sector or to find more simple ways to achieve sustainability in tourism. There are distinguished seven key indicators (UNWTO, 2014 ), following which, it is possible to measure sustainability issues in tourism: creation of workplaces, business vitality, quality of life and water, sorting of waste, energy saving and community spirit. A way to a more sustainable tourism sector consists of many small steps; however, the most important is consistency. Strengthening of sustainability in any sector is a continuous process; thus, it would not be purposeful to limit the following process by the certain aspects, and it might be even hazardous.

The first step seeking sustainability in tourism business is the identification of problems. One of the most painful problems in tourism are: non‐traditional kinds of tourism, sorting of waste and seasoning (Murava & Korobeinykova, 2016 ). Having identified problems – it is necessary to prepare a plan of the key measures and a strategy. Having commenced the implementation of the actions and having gained positive activity outcomes, the next stage for the strengthening of the sustainable tourism are extra actions, which would assure the stability of the achieved result.

Analysing scientific literature, the following key aspects of sustainable tourism development can be defined: creation of new workplaces including employment opportunities in tourism destinations, preservation of natural environment, climate change mitigation, pollution and waste reduction, promotion of green and sustainable consumption practices (UNEP, 2004 ; UNEP, 2005; UNWTO, 2013 , 2014 , 2017 ). These effects manifests through other social factors, such as resident employment and unemployment, psychological climate, availability of social service in tourist destinations etc. Currently, in the tourism sector, it is particularly underlying to ensure socially responsible tourism or sustainable tourism in order to sort waste, preserve natural resources and other issues of ethical tourism (Andereck & Nyaupane, 2011 ; Andereck, Valentine, Knopf, & Vogt, 2005 ; Andereck, Valentine, Vogt, & Knopf, 2007 ; Luekveerawattana, 2018 ; Morgan et al., 2015 ; Murava & Korobeinykova, 2016 ).

Currently, the social issues of tourism development attract a lot of attention of scientists. The term of social tourism was developed to address concerns about socially disadvantaged people (Kakoudakis et al., 2017 ; Morgan et al., 2015 ). Kakoudakis et al. (2003) analysed the impact of social tourism economically and how this manifest for the quality of life in terms of socially disadvantaged people. In the presence of the impact of such psychological environment, it is significant to pay attention to the fact how the unemployed seek to find a desirable job and how vacations affect employees. It was determined that in the presence of better psychological environment there is much stronger residents' health condition and in such a case there are reduced expenses for the disease treatment, improve interpersonal relationship and decreases the level of crimes. It is considered that social tourism – an alternative form of tourism, providing a possibility to travel for the people, possessing fewer possibilities. Different associations created in parallel: movements for family, trade unions, federations, etc., the key aim of which is to develop social tourism (Morgan et al., 2015 ). Social tourism is very well developed in Europe and it provides service to thousands of people. Tourism is also one of social integrity measures. Universal right to tourism is based on the criteria of values, which shape the development basis of social tourism (Ozdemir & Yolal, 2017 ). The number of people, who can enjoy vacation today, has significantly increased due to the boosting popularity of tourism in the world. However, there are still present groups of people, to whom vacations are unavailable due to different reasons: a lack of resources, manifestation of social exclusion, insufficient attention of the public sector, applying social resources and the actions of passive communities and non‐profit making organizations.

Tourism is a contribution into social integrity, the activities of which can be perceived as a measure of social integration/integrity that enables the establishment of relations with other cultures, cognitions of places, customs, and conduct of cultural exchange and pithy spending of spare time (Cloquet, Palomino, Shaw, Stephen, & Taylor, 2017 ; Ganglmair‐Wooliscroft & Wooliscroft, 2017 ; Ozdemir & Yolal, 2017 ; Ponnapureddy, Priskin, Ohnmacht, Vinzenz, & Wirth, 2017 ). Social tourism, more based on social than on economical presumptions, may aid at the creation or preservation of tourist destinations, taking into consideration economic, social and environmental criteria of sustainability. It is a significant contribution to the employment and the growth of economy. In the development of tourism activities, it is necessary to base not only on economic profit‐seeking criteria, but also on ones of the social welfare increase, which are as following ‐ stable and high‐quality creation of workplaces, solution of seasoning and employment problems, cooperation of public and private partnership. Essentially, it can be stated that even short vacation provided for the job search motivate particularly positively for a job search and provide with some essence in terms of the creation of welfare. Thus, social sensitivity together with economic welfare is one of the most significant elements of sustainable development not only in the sector of tourism, but also in the other ones.

Though sustainable tourism issues are mainly linked with promotion of green and social tourism there are important issues of competitiveness necessary to address as competitiveness is perceived as one of the main economic dimensions of sustainability also relevant to tourism sector. The main problem identified based on systematic sustainable tourism research review is about finding possibilities to achieve all three sustainability dimensions (economic, social and environmental) together, that is, to develop competitive tourism business by addressing environmental and social challenges of tourism development in holistic way. The systematic review of literature of competitiveness issues of tourism might provide relevant answers how to trade‐ off between social, economic and environmental dimension of sustainable tourism development.

2.2. Competitiveness and sustainability issues in tourism

According to study (UNWTO, 2017 ), modern economy is distinguished by high competitiveness in any business field including tourism. In order to survive, organizations are forced to increase business efficiency, implement the most advanced technologies, to seek for the competitive advantage of products and supplied service, to fight for the greater market share and to retain the best specialists. The author (Smagurauskienė, 2009 ) emphasizes that operating in such conditions, organizational management necessarily faces a problem, when further development is impossible with no attraction of investment resources. Investment provides an organization with extra competitive advantage and a powerful measure for growth. Following Smagurauskienė ( 2009 ), all the EU and major world states support business development in one or another form, paying great attention to small and medium business of the country that as it is thought forms an economic basis and secures its stability. Financial support for the certain size companies is the key policy instrument of small and medium business.

It was determined that small and medium enterprises are an economic engine in the EU. They form the greatest part of economy and create high income. However, in Lithuania the potential of small and medium enterprises is not completely exploited due to a very unfavourable situation in terms of business, assessing it under a complex approach. The greatest potential of small and medium business is related to the young generation that is focused on the creation of business consciously and purposefully (Macdonald & Jolliffe, 2003 ).

According to Jasinskas and Simanavičienė ( 2009 ), the three key aspects, verifying the provision of financial support to SMEs are distinguished: decision, rationality and human motivation:

• Aspects of dependence on the decisions, made by other foreign states. The authors describe such an aspect as a situation, when one state, making economic decisions, affects the decision‐making of another country.
• Rationality aspect. It is known that support from the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), makes 75% of the all the provided amount of the support. Thus, following this indicator, under the authors' approach, it would be unreasonable to reject it and not to exploit it, as in another case “financial injections” could come to other states.
• Human motivation presumption aspect. Plenty of citizens would lose trust in state authorities if before declaring a willing to enter the EU, they had spoken about the advantages of the EU support, and having implemented that, it did not supply it to business.

Having taken into consideration these three discussed aspects, the presumption can be made, that financial support should not be rejected in order to establish own business or seeking for relevant initial funding. It is required to search for and select the most relevant form of financial support from possible ones. According to Smagurauskienė ( 2009 ), there are two key categories of financial support: “State to business” and “Business to business” (not trying to analyse what business gives to the state in such a case) (See Figure ​ Figure1 1 ).

The key categories of financial support [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com ]

Following Figure ​ Figure1 1 it can be seen that both the state and business take part in the distribution of the financial support. It is significant to distinguish and comprehend that the state role remains an important one as without the support provided by the state; the realization of ideas and establishment of SMEs would not be possible in some cases. Meanwhile, it should be reasoned that without business that is one of the most significant moments of the economic added value, there would be no state. The more business ideas are being implemented; the greater economic growth of the country is being observed. Considering financial support to business, it can be imagined that a businessperson, having invested into the industry of tourism business and provided he/she has established a new hotel, supplies additional work, for example, to a local laundry. Following the example, it can be emphasized that every newly established business creates quite a great added value to another enterprise, supplying another service or product, therefore the financial support to business can be acknowledged. However, taking into account the laws of market and efficiency of resource allocation provided by markets state interventions into the markets should be limited by dealing with market failures such as pollution, public goods and internalization of external and internal costs linked to business operations. Therefore, state support for sustainable tourism should be linked to promotion of innovations, use of renewables, provision of social integrity for disabled people, creation of new job places and other benefits for quality of life of local population which are being treated as public benefits (Streimikiene & Bilan, 2015 ).

In addition, it is necessary to stress that sustainable tourism development is closely linked to payment attention to a consumer as this allows to attract more consumers, expand business and increase competitiveness (Luekveerawattana, 2018 ). Tourism business organizations invest quite a lot in consumer market research and are interested in their consumer behaviour and motives. In scientific literature, it is mentioned that not only does motivation, life style or demographic parameters affect tourist behaviour, but also do the nationality and country's culture (Andereck et al., 2005 , 2007 ; Andereck & Nyaupane, 2011 ; Morgan et al., 2015 ). Tourism business is expanding quite at a high pace, more tourists of different nationalities and cultures are emerging and the following fosters greater interest in cultural differences, cognition of local traditions and habits. Tourism service suppliers, knowing intercultural differences and cognizing tourist behaviour, apply this knowledge for the creation of tourist service packages and consider the following while forming tourist groups. This will enable to fulfil consumers' expectations and create more favourable environment both in groups and in individual service. The result of that is felt – gained a greater everything involving added value for consumers and organizations (Ozdemir & Yolal, 2017 ).

Looking deeper into the market research areas that are being paid more and more attention under the aspect of sustainable consumption, there is present comprehension and cognition of tourists' consumption significance (See Figure ​ Figure2 2 ).

The impact of tourism on environment and economy and on society [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com ]

Following Figure ​ Figure2, 2 , it can be seen that tourism is business, the impact of that is made on environment and economy and on society. Analysing the research and the presented outcomes by Ganglmair‐Wooliscroft and Wooliscroft ( 2017 ), it can be noticed that although the society is being more and more responsible in terms of consumption; however, the selection of sustainable tourism service remains relatively low. The results disclosed by these scientists also showed that there is strong dependence/correlation between consumer's daily consumption habits and behaviour during holidays. Generalizing there can be drawn a presumption that in daily activities, society follows the principles of sustainable consumption and it will apply the same principles during holidays.

There is wide penetrated of sustainable consumption aspect of sustainable tourism. The tourists, who are for sustainable and responsible consumption, usually do not select sustainable tourism service packages that are proposed by Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO). According to Ponnapureddy et al. ( 2017 ), that can be explained as distrust in the organization, proposing that service. Some organizations, willing to attract more tourists, convey themselves as more sustainable than in reality they are. A contemporary tourism service consumer is a sophisticated service consumer and the following sets some ambiguities and distrust in an organization. Under the basis of research results, made by these scientists it was proved that trust in an organization directly impacts tourism service consumer's intentions to order the certain service. The research results have disclosed that higher trust is set for tourists by the hotel advertising that provides with clear and useful information, at the same time reflects sustainability, and does not overshadow with some exceeded information through very obsessive emphasis (Ganglmair‐Wooliscroft & Wooliscroft, 2017 ). That is a very significant highlight talking about a tourism service consumer and analysing his/her decision motives to purchase service.

Sustainable tourism is not only the nature preservation or socially responsible business. It is necessary to remind that the theoretical definition of sustainable tourism involves economic, social and environmental protection dimensions. In that context there is noticed that the issue that receives less attention is social involvement. The following can be noticed analysing the communication among organizations and potential tourism service consumers and especially among those, who are disabled in one or another way. According to Cloquet et al. ( 2017 ), tourism‐advertising measures are not focused on disabled tourists no relevant information in commercials/films are delivered for them, disabled persons are not shown and the following creates the feeling of no involvement. Following the research, it was determined that advertising that a consumer can identify himself/herself with, also increases the feeling of involvement, also increases probability, and in that way strengthens motivation that a consumer will gain the proposed product or separate tourism service or service package. Thus, strengthening the remarks, determined by the research results, it can be stated that tourism organizations, expanding the development of sustainable tourism, should pay a greater attention to the involvement of the disabled tourism service consumers (Benur & Bramwell, 2015 ).

Therefore, then main competitiveness issues in tourism can be addressed also by achieving social and environmental targets of sustainable tourism development by developing innovations linked to sustainable consumption practices in tourism services and attracting environmentally conscious consumers and training such type of consumers by provision of green or environmentally friendly tourism services. Another important input to competitiveness of tourism is innovating in social area and providing social tourism services for disabled and old people. At the same time green and social tourism can deliver a lot of benefits to local communities of tourism destinations by increasing the quality of life etc. Therefore, based on systematic literature review, the main directions of consolidation of competitiveness and sustainable tourism development prospects are analysed further in Section 3 .

3. THE CONSOLIDATION OF COMPETITIVENESS AND SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES IN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

For consolidating competitiveness and sustainability issues in tourism the analysis of tourism services and products and customer's needs is necessary especially taking into account current demographic trends around the world as following the statistics, the major part of tourists are at the age of 30–50 or over 65 and it can be foreseen that the number of tourists is going to increase every year and most of them will be at the age over 65 therefore in order to ensure competitiveness of this sector development the tourism services and products necessary to satisfy future tourists needs should be reconsidered as well.

3.1. Implications of aging society on tourism development trends

The aging process started more than 100 years ago in many developed countries and during XX and XXI centuries, it turned out that in many developing. Resident aging will soon turn into one of the most significant social transformations in the 21st century that will affect almost all social sectors, including labour and finance markets, products and services, transport and social needs as well as family structure and relationship of different generations. Following statistic data, almost in every country there is present a part of people older than 60 years that is growing faster than one of any other group. Especially this trend is fast in European Union and creates many important challenges. The following discloses that soon the number of the people at 65 and older will double in accordance with the world resident part. In accordance with numbers, it can be stated that the number of people at the age 60+ will double until 2050 in comparison to the year 2016. Most elderly will be present in Japan and developed countries. Such rapid increase in the number of the elderly changes all stages of life. The following reveals that the birth rate is decreasing globally (UN, 2020 ). UN ( 2020 ). This indicates that there predominant the elderly in the world. It cannot be stated that the elderly has emerged suddenly and in an unplanned way. They pass several stages through their life until they reach the last one ‐ eldership. The comprehension of the world and activities expands in the process of human development. In each stage of development, we choose new alternatives that will provide us with some possibilities for the achievement of a normal level in life. The following is determined by the person's biological age, historical circumstances, under which the personality was forming, his/her economic and family status, and cultural factors (Peterson & Martin, 2015 ).

Human aging is determined by many factors that affect a human from both environment and from inside. Each factor has positive and negative sides (Batini, 2015 ; Flatt, 2012 ; Itrat, Nigar, & Huque, 2013 ; Katz & Calasanti, 2015 ; Lee, Lan, & Yen, 2011 ; Liang & Luo, 2012 ; Nikitina & Vorontsova, 2015 ; Sedgley, Pritchard, & Morgan, 2011 ; Villar, 2012 ). Aging – a very wide concept, involving different fields of life: physiological (medical), psychological and many others. According to Itrat et al. ( 2013 ), aging is a gradual and progressive process and in general a disorder of functions, when it is adapted to stress and the increased disease risk. However, according to Flatt ( 2012 ), the aging – stabilizing and adapting of powers, based on natural selection, to the changed environment. There are more broad concepts like ‐ process, during which, the number of the elderly are increasing in the general society. Therefore, there is no one term to describe the concept of aging. However, there can be made a conclusion that aging affects the whole human organism (both inside and appearance) and that is an irreversible process. All‐natural creatures age and this is natural for nature. Human is also a natural creature; thus, the same conditions work for him/her. There are several social indicators, describing aging ‐ the number of the residents at the older age; residents' senility degree; the indicator of the doubled period for the resident senility degree; senility demographic coefficient; resident median age; average resident life expectancy, so called resident pyramid; gender coefficient (gender correlation – the number of all men resident in the country divided from the women in the country); different coefficients of dependence and the coefficient of supported parents (supportive age people) (Mendes de Leon, 2005 ; Noll, 2002 , 2005 ).

According to the United Nations Organization (UNO), human is assigned to the aging society after having got 60 and according to the World Health Organization (WHO) – after 65. Currently, people at the age of 65 and senior make 8–10%. Their number exceeds the number of children under 5 (Figure ​ (Figure3 3 ).

Number of people at the age of 65 and senior and children under 5 [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com ]

In accordance with the Figure ​ Figure3 3 it can be seen that the child birth rate started decreasing from 1970s and in the same year, the number of the elderly increased. Following the presented data, it can be seen that until 2050, there will be by 10% more people at the older age than children, younger than 5. It is obvious that aging is a “problem” that affects everybody's life, including social, cultural and religious. Undoubtedly, gradual resident aging is one of challenges that the society is facing in this century (Batini, 2015 ; Flatt, 2012 ; Itrat et al., 2013 ; Nikitina & Vorontsova, 2015 ; Sedgley et al., 2011 ).

During several upcoming years or even decades, there is intended a rapid world resident aging, as result of that the part of the population of the working age will be significantly decreasing. Longer lifespan is a great winning in the field of health as a person can enjoy a good quality of life longer and remain employable longer. However, due to the resident aging there appear quite many economic and social problems. Demographic changes are considered one of the greatest difficulties, emerged for the European Union and the whole world. According to UN data (UN, 2020 ), the number of the elderly at the age of 65 and older will increase by 16% in terms of the resident part until 2050. In the world, there will be present more older people than children (0–14 years old). This will happen for the first time through the history of mankind. Such a dramatic change in age is already affecting the world economy and, in the time, it will be more and more obvious. In the case of the elderly number increase, there are put efforts to make their lifespan longer. A lot of attention is paid to health care and physical activity. If the elderly remains healthy longer, they will be able to enjoy the better quality of life, be independent and active.

Seniors – is non‐homogenous group of persons, the members of which have different needs, different motivation and different expectations. Seniors experience a greater social isolation and the tourism adapted to the elderly aids them to restore social relations. It has been proved that the tourism, adapted to the elderly, aids at the reduction of a health care need. Travelling, they widen their attitude and communicate with alter ego. Sedgley et al. ( 2011 ) presents the groups of the elderly, who travel, considering their approach and wishes. Such travellers can be grouped in groups as passive visitors, enthusiasts, culture hounds, active learners, careful participants, ordinary holidaymakers, world investigators, independent adventure seekers and restless travellers. All these groups of people look for the service, present in the tourism industry that they need in order to fulfil their wishes (Table ​ (Table1 1 ).

Model of the elderly behaviour in the tourism sector

Source: Completed following Nikitina and Vorontsova ( 2015 ).

According to the Table ​ Table1, 1 , we can see that it is complicated to implement the elderly needs, as it is a diverse system and it cannot be named as “the cheapest product”. Considering the elderly income, health condition and employment, their needs become individual. Applying the presented model, the elderly consumer needs enable the increase of the tourism supply effectiveness for this group of tourists. Having found of senior needs, there arises a possibility to propose a relevant tourism product for them, what they expect or demand, that is, that it complied with the value and their needs.

In order to implement needs of seniors, a search for innovative solutions is necessary. According to Van Vuuren and Slabbet ( 2011 ), there are key travellers' factors, determining their behaviour during travels. The most significant is the travel aim; the type of travel (cultural travels, business meetings, holidays, etc.). Taking into account these factors, it is possible to ensure the quality of tourism product and service, to attract more customers and increase competitiveness.

Due to the fact that motives and needs are individual, the tourism market can be segmented in order to find and present the best result easier and more simply (Figure ​ (Figure4 4 ).

Segmentation of tourism market [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com ]

In Figure ​ Figure4, 4 , we can see that the tourism market is divided into geographical, psychographic and consumer behaviour. This figure enables the highlight of age, as it is one of the most significant criteria of the segment. According to the categories, the age can be divided into children, teenagers, youth, middle‐aged and the retired (seniors). From all people's categories, the elderly most frequently has a command of free time. The most relevant place for the elderly activities, complying with their abilities and needs is their usual place of residence. A lot of depends in the person and his/her ability to find some activities for himself/herself. The elderly stays most frequently alone and are condemned to loneliness (Murava & Korobeinykova, 2016 ).

Talking about leisure, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the forms and ways of spending leisure is determined by a complex and closely interacted blend of different factors. However, the selection of the certain leisure activities and participation in it highly depends on the person and in particular on his/her age, gender and education (Araña, León, Carballo, & Moreno‐Gi, 2015 ; Dhiman, 2013 ; Liu, Yang, & Pu, 2015 ; Ok Luy & Lee, 2015 ). There are many ways of leisure spending, relevant to the people of different age and different character (Delespaul, Reis, & DeVries, 2004 ; Lanzendorf, 2002 ; Mokhtarian, Salomon, & Handy, 2004 ; Schlich, Schonfelder, Hanson, & Axhausen, 2004 ; Tschan, Semmer, & Inversin, 2004 ). As it was mentioned earlier, the most popular way of leisure spending among the elderly is travels and physical activity. Many other elements complement these two fields. They are as following: transport, accommodation, catering, attractions, etc. Travels turn to be one of the primary leisure spending ways for the elderly. It does not matter if they travel in their country, their city or beyond the boundaries of their homeland. Such a way of time spending turns into the seniors' basis of physical activity.

Both travels and physical activity may be divided into forms, that is, places where all the presented activities may be taken. Seniors most frequently select such destinations, where there is calmness, silence and little noise. They find these things in a natural environment and in holiday and amusement parks. Therefore, the Seniors are a target market in the tourism business. Every year the number of seniors is increasing annually and at the same time there is increasing a number of travels and the following reveals that they are more and more willing to change their residential environment, experience and feel something new (Cerina, Markandya, & McAller, 2011 ). However, not all seniors are able and can implement their travel aims. There are quite many reasons disturbing that, for example, finance, health problems, etc. All reasons are solved invoking the certain ways of solutions. Many seniors cannot go abroad and they select travels in their country or even city. It is not necessary to go far away in order to see something new. It is sometimes to discover what we have never seen in the environment surrounding us. Those seniors are using this principle, who are not willing to go far away from their home.

Other seniors – have set some aims and motives for themselves concerning travels. They are trying to implement that through the application to tourism agencies or planning their trips on their own. Such a type of seniors, wants to get everything from a trip what is possible: nature and culture, sports and leisure, trial of new entertainment, discovery of new places, etc. Their motives and aims are individual (Carey, Kang, & Zea, 2012 ; Kim & Yoon, 2012 ; Westcott, 2012 ). It is not that easy to make a trip in accordance with their requests; thus, many seniors plan their trips themselves. Some of them pay attention to their hobbies (communication and finding of friends, search for romance, interest in historical places and events, etc.); rest and calmness is significant for ones and religion, safety and health is significant for others (Jang & Wu, 2006 ; Losada, Alén, Domínguez, & Nicolau, 2016 ; Moal‐Ulvoas, 2017 ; Patterson et al., 2018). Therefore, taking into account the trends of ageing population, especially in developed world countries, the main issues of competitiveness of sustainable tourism development are linked with innovations in providing tourism services for seniors and disabled people at the same time addressing social tourism challenges.

3.2. Sustainable dev e lopment of tourism destinations

Tourism has become the main economic business field and survival possibility for many countries. Therefore, the competitiveness issues of tourism are closely linked with addressing sustainable development targets of tourist destinations and providing green tourism services which do not have negative impact on environment, ensure resources savings, protection of natural environment and is based on innovations in green services development, In case of the tourist flow increase, there are being established new companies that supply accommodation catering, transportation, entertainment or other services that they travellers need. Žilinskas ( 2011 ) states that “strengthening public economic and cultural integration determine the development of regional tourism that unavoidably is related to the impact on the economy, socio‐cultural environment and nature.” “Due to the increasing tourism demand, municipalities foster tourism, expecting to receive income from tourism, to create new workplaces and encourage the development of business service.”

However, in order to develop business, it is necessary to master the principles of tourism management and implement innovations in this field as well. Paulauskienė ( 2013 ) notices that “tourism management is a complicated process – it is directly and indirectly related to many fields (accommodation, catering, transport, connections, insurance, etc.), which are intended not only to tourists, but for satisfaction of the local residents' needs. So far there have not been identified how to assure effective management of a tourism sector at national, regional or local municipal levels.” Following the author's statement “it is one of the most difficult issues, solved in practice that tourism policy formers face in the countries of different economic development level.”

The tourists have contact with both the producer and the product, leading to three important and unique aspects between tourism and sustainable development of tourist destinations. Tourists constitute touch points with the local environment, host communities and employees. The relationship between the host areas (including both social and natural environment) and have impact on local environment, host communities and employment opportunities development (Lee, 2001 ). Therefore, tourists and the tourism industry has important implications for sustainable development of tourism destinations. The sustainable consumption practices should be promoted by tourism sector in order to contribute to sustainable development of tourism destinations (Sharpley, 2000 ; Singh & Singh, 1999 ; Zmyślony, Kowalczyk‐Anioł, & Dembińska, 2020 ).

Currently, scientists are discussing about communities and their centres and increase possibilities of public administrative effectiveness (Szromek, Kruczek, & Walas, 2020 ; Widz & Brzezińska‐Wójcik, 2020 ; Zmyślony, Leszczyński, Waligóra, & Alejziak, 2020 ; Zucco, et al. 2020 ). The involvement of a local community into the participation in the development process of self‐government may be different: political, social, satisfaction of personal needs, business development in a rural area.

Many authors agree (Aldebert, Dang, & Longhi, 2011 ; Bilgihan & Nejad, 2015 ; Peters & Pikkemaat, 2006 ; Szromek & Naramski, 2019 ; Zarębski, Kwiatkowski, Malchrowicz‐Mośko, & Oklevik, 2019 ) that the most important factor, fostering competiveness in tourism business is implementation of various kind of innovations. Creation of a new service and development of an old – an innovative process that enables the introduction of original services to the market. Creation of green tourism services – an innovation process that attracts environmentally responsible tourists. The main aim – satisfaction of consumers' needs. Creation and development of new services is the main condition for the company's growth and functioning, empowering the increase of the market share, seeking for aims of the growth of sales volume and profit and to limit the entrance of new competitors into the market (Aldebert et al., 2011 ). Innovative activities are a criterion of success for economic growth and social welfare, grounding on advance that fosters the development of business companies. It involves social change processes, fostering innovations. Therefore, one of the key sources of competitive advantage – application of innovations, creation of innovative products and services as innovations are more frequently seen as the key source of competitive advantage. Under the conditions of contemporary market, businesspeople are forced to search for the ways how to implement innovative activities in order to be able to expand their possibilities, constantly develop and change and through the satisfaction of consumers' needs to achieve excellent results.

Developing tourism business, the most significant element is employees that communicate with a client directly and also to address the local communities needs. For tourism agencies and their specialist, in order to meet leisure, recreational or creative interests and needs of customers it is necessary to have necessary theoretical and methodological knowledge, an ability to find out the interests and needs of resident community in different fields of leisure activities, an ability to involve children, teenagers, the disabled and the elderly to active cultural activities (Bilgihan & Nejad, 2015 ).

The corporate social responsibility initiatives, corporate governance and business excellence which can also provide valuable inputs to sustainable tourism development if properly addressed by companies operating in tourism and other related business sectors (Popescu, 2019 ; Popescu & Popescu, 2019 ).

3.3. Research findings

Sustainable tourism development can be achieved without damage to competitiveness of this sector development if such important issues like ageing human population and disable people needs, sustainable consumption and sustainable development of tourism destinations will be addressed by providing tourism services.

Therefore, in order to address the main economic sustainability issues or to strengthen the competitiveness of sustainable tourism sector, it is necessary to tackle with many social and environmental issues linked to sustainable tourism development in tourist destinations. All these economic, social and environmental issues need to be addressed together: welfare and need of local communities, sustainable development priorities of tourism destinations to changing demographic profile of tourists and their changing needs for tourism services and products. Sustainable consumption issues should be taken as priority by developing tourism products and services in order to address environmental sustainability issues. Social issues of sustainability in tourism development are linked with contribution to local communities development and addressing the needs for tourism products and services of aging society and disabled people.

In Figure ​ Figure5 5 the main dimensions of sustainable tourism development are interlinked with drivers of behavioural changes and their implications to sustainable consumption. At the same time this figure summarizes the main research finding and provides future research guidelines for investigation of sustainable tourism development paths and challenges.

The main dimensions of sustainable tourism development and their implications to sustainable consumption [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com ]

The current COVID‐19 outbreak is affecting tourism industry and rising new challenges for sustainable tourism development. According to Lew ( 2020 ), companies that survive the pandemic will need to make their products more resilient to future pandemics—which health experts warn will continue to occur—and be able to adapt to the predicted change in consumer interests, which will include greater demand for sustainable products. The challenge for global sustainable tourism will be to strike a balance between maintaining activity in rich countries, while avoiding overcrowding, and bringing activity to poor countries, some of which are overly dependent on the sector and markets that will need a lot of incentives to recover (Romagosa, 2020 ). In a post‐Covid world, changes to travel and tourism are inevitable and will likely be driven by a combination of consumer choice, destination availability and regulatory change (Spalding, Burke, & Fyall, 2020 ). Therefore, these issues are also need to be addressed in future research shaping sustainable tourism development trends at the risks of pandemics which can arise also in future as well.

4. CONCLUSIONS

Summarizing it can be stated that although sustainable development and sustainable tourism are gaining more and more attention; however, the following are not implemented completely neither by tourism service suppliers, providers nor by the very tourists. In order that sustainable and responsible tourism turned into a social norm, it is needed to educate both organizations and consumers as well interested parties systematically.

There are new perspectives of sustainable tourism development in terms of products and services, focusing on new tourism kinds and separate consumers' segments, focusing on elderly and disabled as well as green tourism services. During the last two decades, due to globalization, tourism has turned to be available to many people, especially of the middle‐class, and as a result, tourism industry has become one of the greatest industry fields in the world. Although, tourism has become available to a majority, and was is easier to travel, some social groups, for example, disabled people and seniors usually were underestimated and forgotten in the tourism market, as they represented the minority that have low economic power. However, due to the low rate of birth in the whole world and the high number of the elderly, this situation has got a new trend and currently, seniors have become a wide and important group that provides with greater use of tourism services than other groups.

As tourism services have impact on host areas including impacts on local environment, host communities and employment opportunities development, the tourism industry has important implications for sustainable development of tourism destinations. The sustainable consumption practices should be promoted by tourism sector in order to contribute to sustainable development of tourism destinations.

There is wide penetration of sustainable consumption aspect of sustainable tourism. The tourists, are currently looking for sustainable tourism services and enjoy responsible consumption practices therefore they are keen to select sustainable tourism service packages that are proposed by various tourism organizations.

Competitiveness and environmental and social issues of sustainable tourism development can be addressed together by implementing innovations and fostering sustainable consumption principles, providing new tourism services for disabled and old people and achieving completive advantage together by contributing to welfare and needs of local communities and dealing with sustainable development priorities of tourism destinations.

The demographic profile of tourists and their changing needs for tourism services and products should be also addressed. Therefore, the sustainable consumption and social tourism functions should be taken as priority by developing tourism products and services in order to address environmental and social sustainability issues.

The current COVID‐19 outbreak will have significant effect on tourism industry and provides new challenges for sustainable tourism development. Companies in tourism sector that survive the pandemic will need to make their products more resilient to future pandemics—which health experts warn will continue to occur—and be able to adapt to the predicted change in consumer interests, which will include greater demand for sustainable products. In a post‐Covid world, changes to travel and tourism are inevitable and will likely be driven by a combination of consumer choice, destination availability and regulatory change, therefore, these issues are also need to be addressed in future including the sustainable consumption practices which should be further promoted and fully integrated in tourism sector by including also international agreements on carbon footprint or other limitations etc.

Another important issues for future research are linked with corporate social responsibility, corporate governance and excellence models of business performance which can provide valuable inputs to sustainable tourism development if properly addressed by business sectors (Popescu, 2019 ; Popescu & Popescu, 2019 ).

The further studies how to ensure social tourism development are necessary to ensure innovations in this field as well as provision of tourism services for disabled and old people should be also put as priority for policy agenda in European Union taking into account current trends of ageing population in all EU Member States and risks of pandemics.

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The relationship between service quality and tourist satisfaction and its moderating effect on gastronomy tourism in southern thailand: a pls-sem-based analysis.

© 2024 The authors. This article is published by IIETA and is licensed under the CC BY 4.0 license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).

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Thailand’s southern region is home to a number of prominent cultural tourism destinations, particularly those that offer gastronomy tourism. Hence, it is paramount that Southern Thailand develops its gastronomy tourism sector. It is crucial to enhance service quality to create a positive tourist experience and ensure their satisfaction. This study aimed to analyse the association between service quality and tourist satisfaction and its impact on gastronomy experience. Data from 387 valid questionnaires were analysed using a variance-based PLS-SEM method. Findings indicate that service quality and tourists’ gastronomy experience have a positive and significant effect on tourist satisfaction. Furthermore, the relationship between tourists’ gastronomy experience and service quality negatively moderates tourist satisfaction. This study has made an invaluable contribution to the existing corpus of knowledge on gastronomy tourism and presents implications for practitioners and interested parties as well as recommendations for future research.

service quality, gastronomy experience, tourists’ satisfaction, gastronomy tourism, sustainable tourism, environmental impact

A growing awareness on sustainable tourism’s impact has prompted a significant shift in of tourist operators’ tourism formats. The contemporary concept of travel is grounded in economic, social, resource, environmental, and cultural considerations. Tourism developers who work with WTO (World Tourism Organization) and PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) advocate eco-friendly travel in order to foster economic, community, cultural, and environmental development through community-wide participation and the generation of economic benefits [1]. Thailand’s tourism sector plays a significant role in its economy and its people, as outlined in the National Tourism Development Plan No.3 (2023-2027). This plan emphasises the importance of sustainable tourism based on inherent resources and the environment [2], while the National Innovation Agency or NIA (public organization) has identified opportunities for driving tourism growth by integrating  innovation with tourism and the utilization of local identities to help enhance the travel experience for Thai and foreign tourists in efforts to enhance stakeholders’ experience and interests. Sustainable Tourism Innovation also intends to operate under the “City & Community Innovation Challenge 2024”. It plans to demonstrate that travel experience, gastronomy tourism, culture, and entertainment are integral to the development of a local identity and the enhancement of tourists’ travel experience. These elements are essential for the creation of tourism innovation to ensure that tourists derive satisfaction from their travel experiences. This is achieved through the provision of high-quality services [3]. 

The WEF (World Economic Forum) had ranked Thailand's tourism competitiveness at No.35, out of 141 countries in the world [4]. Thailand has an abundance of food sources with innumerable agriculture resources that can be used as raw materials, such as rice, Thai herbs, etc., for cooking a variety of local cuisines. Thai food is unique in food flavours and cooking methods vary from region to region, which makes Thai food even more delicious, unique as well as distinct in taste and identity that impresses tourists compared to other national dishes from other countries [5]. Tourists’ attitude towards Thai food in terms of variety, value for money and convenience in dining is highly commendable [6]. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports Thailand reported that the income generated from gastronomy tourism in Thailand was 456 billion Baht or 20% of the total revenue from tourism [7]. In 2019, foreign tourists spent 1,645.43 Baht on accommodation, followed by 1,270.77 Baht on food and beverage, while expenditure on food increased from the previous year (+ 1.07%) [1]. This clearly indicates that foreign tourists prioritize gastronomy experience and seek to immerse themselves in local Thai cuisine by paying a premium for the culinary experience [8].

Southern Thailand is a popular destination for foreign tourists, with the highest number of visits registered in 2023. Southern Thailand boasts two astonishing coastlines, namely the Andaman Sea to the west and the Gulf of Thailand to the east. Both these destinations offer plenty of natural resources and man-made attractions, such as marine parks with beautiful beaches and islands, including undersea natural resources (corals, fishes, etc.). These natural resources facilitate activities, such as diving and water sports, that attract both Thai and foreign tourists. In addition, the southern region is home to a prominent cultural tourist attraction, namely the local cuisine. Phuket was the first city in Thailand and in ASEAN, out of 18 cities worldwide, that received the Creative Gastronomy Science Recognition (among the seven categories contested) by UNESCO in 2014 [9].

However, Thailand faces challenges in developing its food tourism sector into a desirable travel destination for tourists due to their negative perception towards Thai food in relation to the standard of cleanliness, safety, services, etc [10]. Southern Thailand mainly lacks tourism promotions, diversity and service quality [9]. With all these factors affecting the development of gastronomy tourism, it is crucial to enhance service quality so that tourists leave with an unforgettable experience and a high level of satisfaction [11]. Naturally, tourists search for significant and memorable experiences in their travels. Unique events encourage tourists to develop a loyal bond and revisit their favourite tourist destination due to their positive experiences [12, 13]. Moreover, the experience affects the level of satisfaction and the intention to repurchase or revisit a particular tourist destination [14]. Tourist satisfaction has emerged as a significant factor in the tourism business. Numerous countries promote gastronomy tourism to increase their national income in the competitive tourism market by implementing marketing strategies, high-quality service, and unique selling points not found elsewhere to ensure tourists’ satisfaction. However, achieving a standardized effect and addressing tourist dissatisfaction presents both opportunities and limitations for gastronomy tourism [15].

Service quality dimensions include tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy, which many studies have attentively studied. Service quality is the key to customer satisfaction and one study, related to the UK fast food market, found the tangibility variable to be notably the most important factor that drives customer satisfaction [16]. Extensive research has found that substantial levels of customer satisfaction prevail in terms of interest and productivity, but there was a decline over time in service quality [17]. This current study applied the PLS-SEM technique to explore the relationship between service quality and tourist satisfaction and its moderating influence on gastronomy experience.

2.1 Service quality and tourists’ satisfaction

Service quality is a measure that gauges a service provider’s capability to meet the needs of service recipients (customers). Delivering quality service means responding to clients based on the client’s expectations [18]. Service quality includes the assessment of the customer’s overall experience and it serves as an indicator for assessing the customer’s level of satisfaction in order to offer top-notch service. It is crucial to determine the precise criteria for outstanding preferences and satisfaction that will become a standard that is beyond the client’s expectations [19]. Service quality is important because it impacts the growth of the service business, enables companies to establish a competitive advantage, enables consumers to determine repeat purchases or maintain brand loyalty, and reflects economic conditions [20]. Parasuraman et al. [21] identified five dimensions of SERVQUAL, namely tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. In gastronomy tourism, tangibility refers to the physical aspects, such as location, personnel, equipment, communication tools and symbols, as well as the environment. Reliability refers to the ability to provide services that match the common standards perceived by the customer. Every service rendered must be accurate, comprehensive, appropriate and consistent every time the service is provided [22]. Responsiveness is the service provider’s ability to respond to the service recipient’s needs within a reasonable time frame. Assurance refers to a service that features staff who are knowledgeable, capable, honest, polite, and possess good communication skills to establish trust in using the service. Empathy refers to the service provider’s equal attention to each customer and the ability to solve problems faced by each customer individually with effective communication skills so that the customer feels valued [23].

Lee et al. [24] found that the level of service quality has a direct impact on the level of customer satisfaction in Korean restaurants. Furthermore, Adundo [25] observed that desirable service quality not only enhances customer satisfaction, but it also encourages repeat purchases. Subsequently, the level of service influences tourism satisfaction [26]. Experiencing good quality service leads to tourist satisfaction, which has a significant effect on the tourist’s return intentions [27]. Hence, tourist satisfaction is a dynamic component of company policy in the travel industry that depends on the quality of a tourist’s experience and the service quality offered at a tourist destination [28].

2.2 Moderating effect of gastronomy experience

Chaney and Ryan [29] found that gastronomy tourism portrays and transmits the host culture to tourists through the historical and cultural identity of food or characteristics of the gastronomy experience. Mathwick et al. [30] pointed out that experiential principles refer to direct or indirect observation of a consumer’s impression of the goods or services offered, while experiential value is characterized as the interaction between customers and products or services, including direct or indirect use of products or services, which forms the basis of individual desires and interactions. Cuisine plays a significant role in tourism spending, and therefore, it is essential for tourists visiting any destination [31]. Gastronomic encounters either influence the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of tourists [32]. Majority of restaurants heavily rely on sensory qualities, such as aesthetics, environment, flair, feeling and sound. Research has indicated that the tourism and food industries play a significant role in providing practical value. Therefore, customers find that the attraction of experiential or meaningful enjoyment in restaurants does elicit emotions during meals [33].

The tourist’s experience directly impacts the overall satisfaction, including service quality satisfaction. Previous tourism experiences serve as a benchmark for assessing or anticipating expectations of tourists [34]. A tourist’s experience can lead to the overall perception of service quality, customer satisfaction, and post-consumption behaviour [35]. It affects the level of satisfaction derived from the service quality provided mainly when tourists come to visit or recognize the quality of service or recall previous positive experiences. Hence, if the service quality fulfils or surpasses the basic necessities and expectations of tourists, then a high level of satisfaction accruing from the quality of service will be achieved. Conversely, if the tourist’s experience falls short of the expected quality of service, the level of satisfaction is low [36]. Therefore, a tourist’s experience will contribute towards improving the satisfaction accruing from the standard of service quality offered [37]. Tourist satisfaction based on the experience gained will suggest a likelihood of returning to the same tourist destination or service provider [38].

Literature indicates that the tourist’s perspective influences the level of satisfaction. In particular, when enhancing aspects of an organisation’s growth and promotion, both satisfaction and dissatisfaction should be taken into account [39]. The experience gained by tourists from appreciable service quality directly impacts the level of satisfaction [40]. This study selected this variable as a moderator based on previous studies, such as Bradley et al. [41], Patterson and Johnson [42], and Prebensen et al. [38]. This study intended to investigate how gastronomy experience affects the relationship between service quality and tourist satisfaction.

This research used the stratified sampling method and collected data from foreign tourists who had visited Thailand, mainly places like Krabi, Phang Nga, Phuket and Surat Thani. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires, which involved 420 questionnaires that were distributed and 410 valid questionnaires were returned in January 2022. The acceptable response rate was 98% [43]; however, only 387 datasets (92.14%) were ultimately selected for analysis. The dimensions and items that measure service quality were adopted by Parasuraman et al. [21], while gastronomy experience was adopted by Lai et al. [44] and tourist satisfaction was adopted by Castaldo et al. [45]. All preceding measures were modified to reflect the study context, ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree" on an assessment scale of 7 to 1 using a Likert scale.

3 . 1 Theoretical framework

Figure 1 . Research framework

The research framework proposed in this study comprises three latent constructs, as in service quality, gastronomy experience, and tourist satisfaction. Figure 1 illustrates the causal relationship between these constructs.

3 . 2 Research hypotheses

H1: Service quality has a positive effect on tourists’ satisfaction.

H2: Gastronomy experience has a positive effect on tourists’ satisfaction.

H3: The relationship between service quality and tourist satisfaction moderates gastronomy experience.

This study utilized PLS-SEM path modelling to perform data analysis and validate the study’s hypotheses, which focus on reflective constructs, such as tourist satisfaction, service quality, and gastronomy experience. PLS-SEM was preferred because it is appropriate for this study, as demonstrated in previous researches [46, 47]. Fornell and Larcker [48] argued that PLS-SEM is the most appropriate method when a research aims to construct a theory and account for variability (predict the constructs). PLS-SEM has been utilised by scholars in various disciplines, such as marketing, consumer behaviour, as well as the travel, business and tourism industries. For example, it has been applied to comprehend elements that influence marketing efficacy and destination management [49]. In order to anticipate or investigate the research model, Partial Least Squares (PLS) can be employed as either a path model or a regression model to examine the correlation between numerous independent variables and one or more dependent variables.  

3 .3 Sample characteristics

Figure 2. Gender

Out of the 387 respondents, 55.3% were males, while 39.3% were females and 5.4% preferred not to disclose their gender (see Figure 2).

Figure 3 . Age

Majority of the respondents were within the age range of 26 to 35 (58.1%) years. This was followed by the 36 to 45 (23.0%) age group, below 25 (10.1%), 46 to 55 (3.6%) as well as the 56 to 65 and over 65, both comprising 2.6% of the population (see Figure 3).

Figure 4 . Number of times traveling to Southern Thailand

Most tourists were first-time travellers (51.4%), while the rest were returning tourists (48.6%), as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 5. Educational background

As for educational background, majority of the respondents held a Bachelor's degree (52.5%), followed by a Technical School/ Diploma (40.6%), Graduate School (5.9%), and Secondary School (1.0%) (see Figure 5).

Figure 6 . Amount spent on food tourism

Majority of the tourists spent less than 10,000 Baht on food tourism (41.3%) per trip, followed by 10,001-20,000 Baht (37.2%), 20,001-30,000 Baht (14.2%), 30,001-40,000 Baht (3.9%), 40,001-50,000 Baht (2.6%), and lastly, more than 50,000 Baht (0.8%) (see Figure 6).

4. 1 Assessment measurement model

As for the first-order construct, assessment of reflective measurement models involved four steps, namely examining item reliability, evaluation of composite reliability and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha tests the reliability of a measure using statistical methods). Construct validity is determined by examining the loading and cross-loading of items, Convergent validity is measured by calculating AVE (average variance extracted) and Discriminant validity is assessed using the Fornell-Larcker criterion, cross loading, and the HTMT criterion [48].

Hair et al. [49] proposed that the indication reliability should be deemed acceptable when the loading is less than 0.70. Researchers should thoroughly analyse the impact after removing the indicator on other reliability and validity measures. The analysis revealed that the outer loading values varied from 0.708 to 0.943, as specified in Table 1. Consequently, all indicators were incorporated into the model.

Fornell and Larcker [48] suggested that the Internal Reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) and Composite Reliability value of 0.7 or higher is considered acceptable. This study included Cronbach's alpha and Composite Reliability values, which were between 0.777 and 0.944 (see Table 1) and these values reflect adequate Internal Reliability.

Table 1. Findings from the reflected measurement model

The minimum acceptable AVE level for each indicator in the construct is 0.5, which is used to assess the convergent reliability. This study's AVE values are between 0.649 and 0.803, as indicated in Table 1, and this confirms the convergent reliability.

In order to measure discriminant validity, the Fornell-Larcker criterion, cross loading, and HTMT criterion were used. The Fornell-Larcker criterion (square root of the average variance extracted (AVE) for each construct) is higher than the bivariate correlation values. The assessment was based on the item’s cross-loadings and an ideal standardised loading estimate of 0.7 or greater is regarded favourable [48].

The discriminant validity was confirmed by comparing the square root of the average variance extracted (AVE) in each construct with the bivariate correlation values, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2 . Fornell - Larcker Criterion (First-Order Construct)

Table 3 shows that all the cross-loadings are higher than 0.70, which indicates that the indicators’ outer loadings on the related constructs are greater than their cross-loadings on other constructs.

Table 3 . Cross-Loading

Criteria involve using the Herotrait-Monotrait (HTMT) statistical test with bootstrapping (Table 4). This involves creating 5,000 random subsamples and using bootstrap confidence intervals to determine whether the HTMT value is below the threshold value of 0.9 [50] . The HTMT ratio in this study is less than 0.90; therefore, this study has established discriminant validity.

Table 4 . Heterotrait - Monotrait

4 . 2 Assessment Measurement Model ( Second - Order construct )

Second - Order constructs in this study include service quality and gastronomy experience, both of which are also reflective measurement models, like the assessment of the measurement model, which involves the First-Order construct [51].

Table 5 and Figure 7 show that the outer loading is between 0.722 and 0.942, Cronbach's alpha is between 0.859 and 0.900, both Composite Reliability have a value of 0.926, and AVE values are between 0.716 and 0.873. Therefore, this study confirms the convergence reliability.

Table 5 . Results of the reflective measurement model (Second-Order construct)

Figure 7. Measurement Model (Second-Order construct)

Discriminant validity was established in this study (see Table 6) and the square root of AVE in each construct is greater than the bivariate correlation values.

T able 6 . Fornell - Larcker Criterion (Second-Order construct)

According to Table 7, all the cross-loadings exceed 0.70. This suggests that the indicators have higher loadings on the constructs they are related to, compared to their loadings on other constructs.

Table 7 . Cross - Loading (Second-Order construct)

As illustrated in Table 8, HTMT is less than 0.90, thus, this study has demonstrated the establishment of discriminant validity.

Table 8 . Heterotrait - Monotrait (Second Order construct)

4.3 Assessment of the structural model ( Second - Order construct )

The structural model illustrates the hypothesized correlation between the constructs or latent variables in this study.

4.3.1 Collinearity issue in the structured model

VIF values were employed to assess collinearity issues in the structured model. The rule of thumb value acceptable for a VIF score is less than 5 [51]. The VIF values for this study ranged from 1.534 to 2.011, and none of them were above the cutoff value.

4.3.2 Significance of path coefficients (Hypothesis Testing)

Hair et al. [51] recommended using bootstrapping with 5,000 sub-samples for establishing the significance of path coefficients in order to evaluate the hypothesized model. Table 9 illustrates the significance of the paths, with t-values shown along the key paths. Hence, this study's hypotheses are directed. The values indicate that the hypothesized relationships between the constructs are statistically significant at a 5% level of significance, except for one of the relationships. In addition, a t-value of 1.645 was compared to critical levels.

Table 9 . Structural model assessment (Second-Order Construct)

According to Table 9, the finding supports H1 (β = 0.100, t-value = 2.020, p > 0.05). Thus, service quality has a positive and significant effect on tourist satisfaction.

Tourists’ gastronomy experiences have a positive and significant effect on tourist satisfaction. This finding supports H2 (β = 0.119, t-value = 15.866, p > 0.01). The relationship between tourists ’ gastronomy experiences and service quality is positively moderated by the effect of tourist satisfaction. However, the results do not support H3, as the interaction impact is negative (β = -0.119, t-value = 4.661, p > 0.05).

4.3.3 Predictive relevance and effect size

Evaluation of a model's quality relies on its capacity to accurately forecast endogenous constructs. The coefficient of determination (R²) quantifies the level of prediction accuracy exhibited by the model. According to Hair et al. [51], it is generally considered acceptable for the R² value to be higher than 0.25 for important target constructs. A value of 0.25 is considered weak, 0.50 is considered medium, and 0.75 is considered significant for target constructs. In the present investigation, the R² value is 0.608 (see Table 10); hence, the R² value for the target construct is classified as medium.

Once the structured model's predictive relevance was assessed and verified, the magnitude of the impacts (f²) was examined. The effect size, denoted by f², measures the degree to which each element contributes to the model's adaptation.

The f² is determined by observing alterations in R² when a specific construct is removed from the model [51].

Cohen [52] suggested that an f² value of 0.35 indicates a large effect, an f² value of 0.15 indicates a medium effect, an f² value of 0.02 indicates a minimal effect, while an f² value of less than 0.02 indicates no effect.

This study’s f² values for the exogenous factors are shown in Table 10. It indicates that the f² value for gastronomy experience is 0.621 and the moderating effect of gastronomy experience and service quality is 0.049 (large effect). In contrast, the f² value for service quality is 0.013, thus, there is no effect.

In order to evaluate the forecasting significance of the structural model, this study analysed the Q² (cross-validated redundancy). Chin et al. [53] proposed that a Q² value greater than 0.5 indicates a high level of predictive relevance, a Q² value over 0.25 suggests a moderate level of predictive relevance, and a Q² value above 0 suggests a low level of predictive relevance. The current investigation revealed a Q² result of 0.412, as shown in Table 10. This suggests that the path model has a medium degree of predictive relevance.

Table 10. Results of the structured model

The main purpose of this study was to analyse the positive effects of service quality and gastronomy experience on tourist satisfaction and to determine whether gastronomy experience in association with service quality moderates tourist satisfaction in Thailand. The postulated hypotheses are supported by the empirical outcomes of this investigation, hence, H1 and H2 are supported, while H3 is not supported. This study provides practical suggestions that can assist stakeholders in developing and sustaining factors that influence tourist satisfaction in the context of gastronomy tourism in Thailand.

Findings demonstrate that service quality has a positive and significant effect on tourist satisfaction, which is consistent with previous studies [53, 54]. Therefore, it is confirmed that satisfaction increases due to a robust perception of service quality and its direct association with tourist satisfaction, hence, its estimation and development is a crucial aspect of destination management. Astuti and Dewi [55] found that service quality in a tourist destination must meet the expectations of tourists.

Tourists’ gastronomy experience has a greater positive and significant effect on tourist satisfaction compared to service quality. This finding is consistent with Ali et al. [56] and Rajan [57], who both found a positive relationship between tourists’ experience and satisfaction.  Furthermore, a tourist’s real experience is construed as tourist satisfaction after experiencing the event and it stems from the psychological feeling produced by a person's traveling experience. This highlights the importance of focusing on tourists’ experience to ensure overall satisfaction [58].

Meanwhile, the correlation between tourists' gastronomy experience and service quality is adversely influenced by the level of tourist satisfaction. This suggests that the greater influential impact of gastronomy experience weakens the connection between tourist satisfaction and service quality. Conversely, the relatively minor influence of gastronomy experience amplifies the stronger connection between service quality and tourist satisfaction.

The results are consistent with Forgas-Coll et al. [59], who discovered that tourists with extensive travel experience exhibit a lower correlation between service quality and tourist satisfaction. Conversely, tourists with limited travel experience demonstrated a high correlation between service quality and tourist satisfaction. Tourists’ experience directly impacts the overall satisfaction, and thus, directly affects tourist satisfaction of the service quality.

Tourists' experience serves as a basis or consideration for assessing or anticipating expectations in the minds of tourists [60]. Therefore, if service quality meets the needs and expectations of tourists or exceeds the actual or acknowledged experience, it will result in a high level of service quality satisfaction. However, if tourists' experience do not meet the expected service quality, then their level of satisfaction will be low [61].

This study examined how gastronomy experience is influenced by the association between service quality and tourist satisfaction in Southern Thailand. It has contributed to the existing corpus of knowledge in the field of gastronomy tourism and presented implications for both practitioners and future research.

6.1 Practical implications

Firstly, it provides restaurants and gastronomy tourism agencies with an insight into gastronomy tourism regarding the significance of high-quality service in achieving competitive advantage in the gastronomy tourism sector.

Secondly, since tourist satisfaction depends on the tourist’s actual experience of gastronomy tourism, hence, restaurants and gastronomy tourism agencies must develop different strategies and activities tailored to the expectations and desires of gastronomy tourists.

Finally, this study’s findings suggest that tourists with a higher level of gastronomy experience will experience less satisfaction due to their higher initial expectations of gastronomy tourism that have been established by prior experiences with other destinations. Therefore, the Tourism Authority of Thailand and relevant gastronomy tourism agencies should develop effective policies for the management of gastronomy tourism in southern Thailand and other gastronomy tourism destinations. Conversely, tourists with less experience in gastronomy tourism might experience greater satisfaction upon receiving higher quality services. Consequently, restaurants and gastronomy tourism agencies should prioritize the offering of functional and technical high-quality services as well as positive experiences to meet the needs of these less experienced tourists.

6 . 2 Theoretical implications

The theoretical implications of this study can be observed from the extension of service quality and the moderators of gastronomic experience who are skilled in predicting tourist satisfaction. The present study offers a theoretical framework for the gastronomy tourism industry in southern Thailand. It offers a methodology that academic scholars can use to evaluate the generalizability of service quality and the factors that influence gastronomy experience theories as well as explore the potential for combining these concepts to predict tourist satisfaction. The results of this study also offer new insight into the field of entrepreneurship, Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Thailand and gastronomy tourism agencies.

6 . 3 Limitations and future research

This current study has limitations that can be further explored and mitigated. One area for further investigation is the application of this study’s model to a certain area in Thailand.  Accessibility, time constraints and the repercussions of COVID-19 also posed limitations. Future research can be expanded to include other related variables, such as tourists’ intentions, tourists’ expectations and tourists’ loyalty.  The hypothesized model can be replicated in another gastronomy tourism destination to verify its general applicability to other populations.

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Insights on Sustainable Tourism, Resilience, and Quality of Life Notions

• First Online: 30 August 2024

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• Deepak Chhabra 4  

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This chapter first scrutinizes the dynamic notion of sustainable tourism. This is followed by insights on the significance of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for the tourism system. SDG roadmap by the G20 Tourism Working Group is featured with insights on sustainable pathways adopted by several green tourism case studies. Furthermore, attention is drawn to the significance of the resilience concept. The chapter closes with a discussion of the critical association between the notions of resilience, SDGs, and well-being.

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Chhabra, D. (2024). Insights on Sustainable Tourism, Resilience, and Quality of Life Notions. In: Chhabra, D., Atal, N., Maheshwari, A. (eds) Sustainable Development and Resilience of Tourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-63145-0_1

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Online ISBN : 978-3-031-63145-0

eBook Packages : Earth and Environmental Science Earth and Environmental Science (R0)

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