The Impact of the Gastronomic Offer in Choosing Tourism Destination: The Case of Albania

Food structures the tourist day. A large proportion of tourist day are spent either consuming food and drinks, or deciding where and what to consume. One of the essential tasks in developing and marketing gastronomic tourism, therefore, is to find the ways to add value to the eating experience in order to make it memorable. Gastronomic experiences for tourist are usually developed from the prospective of unique aspects of gastronomy that can only be found in that particular location. If gastronomy can be linked to specific countries or regions, it becomes a powerful tourism marketing tool. Many tourism destinations around the world have begun to realize this, and are using gastronomy to market themselves. This paper, therefore, is going to discuss a number of issues regarding food tourism.The purpose of this research was to determine motivations which influencing tourists’ local food consumption.The study involved a multi-method approach undertaken through initiating interviews in 20 restaurants to build inventory of local food of Vlora Region and to find out if local food to Vlora Region take part in the menus of restaurants. Finally a survey applied to the tourists of the area to determine motivations which influencing their local food consumption. From the analysis five motivational factor were identified; Quality of taste, authentic experience, rural development, health concern and knowledge. Authentic experience was chosen as a primary motivational factor by visitors to consume local food during their holiday. Based on the findings of this research food has a great influence on attracting tourists to a destination from the tourists' point of view.