Behavioral intention and preferences of rural tourists to use local food in rural areas of Shushtar County

Over the past decades, food tourism has become as a dominant trend in global traveler’s interest. More than one-third of tourism expenditures are spent on food. Previous research has confirmed that food and dining are major elements considered by tourists when traveling and choosing destinations. Food is a major component of a travel experience, and it is a part of travel activities. Tourists eat the local cuisine in a tourism destination to fulfil their travel experiences. Travelers acquire new knowledge and understanding of the traditional local and regional culture of a destination, which are valuable in relation to destination image and future tourist intention. Accordingly, several tourism destinations have emphasized food activities and created gastronomic/culinary experiences to attract international visitors. Therfor this study was conducted with the general aim of preferences and behavioral intention of rural tourists to use local food in Iranian rural areas.

The statistical population of the study was all wolves in rural areas of Shushtar County. Using Krejcie and Morgan table, 400 of them were randomly selected for the study. The main research tool was a questionnaire whose validity was confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient and combined reliability. Data analysis was performed by SPSS and Smart Pls software. Results and DiscussionFindings showed that all the characteristics of local food (cultural and local experience, menu and atmosphere (atmosphere), staff service (behavioral culture), main food quality, money value, product attractiveness, staff skills in cooking, package Classification, part, tradition and originality) have a positive and significant effect on tourists' satisfaction at the level of 99%. In addition, the results showed that the satisfaction of food tourists has a significant role in creating a positive attitude and attachment to local food. The results also show that attitudes and attachments to local food can explain more than 60% of tourists' behavioral tendencies.

The results of this study showed that the theory used in this study was very effective because it explains more than 60% of the desires of tourists. In addition, all the hypotheses of the research were confirmed. In general, the results of this study can help policy makers and rural development program to develop local food tourism to reduce migration and increase economic prosperity in the region.