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LYCEUM OF THE PHILIPPINES UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF INTERNATIONAL TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY
MANAGEMENT
GRADUATE SCHOOL
DOCTORAL LEVEL
2nd Trimester 2017-2018

PhD IHM 604- ADVANCE RESEARCH METHODS

Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 with Questionnaire (revised)

Food Tourism Branding in the Selected Destination Restaurants in
CALABARZON.”

Presented by:

MR. GENE ROY P. HERNANDEZ

PhD-IHM 604 Student

Presented to:

DR. SEVILLIA S. FELICEN

Professor, PhD-IHM 604
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Chapter 1

The Problems and the Review of Literatures

INTRODUCTION

If there is one thing that is getting to be very popular globally nowadays, it

is the advent of culinary tourism, which is more than just a mere dining

experience. It underscores the effort of each locality to create a wide array of

food and drinks that tourists would adore and keep coming back for. It enables

tourists to get to know the food and beverages that have become distinct for a

particular place and discover the culture and uniqueness of its people (Fortus,

2012). Culinary tourism has emerged as the world’s prominent industry and is,

therefore, material to every nation’s progress and advancement (Aguba, Tamayo

& Barlan, 2013).

Indeed, food is a basic necessity, and no one would deprive oneself from

enjoying it; that is why, tourists have grown to color their travel with getting

acquainted with the local cuisine of the places they visit. Hall (2003) affirms that

all tourists spend so much money to eat and to eat really good food. Trying out

native delicacies and specialty dishes of the place they visit has become one of

the major activities for travelers.

Food is also a valid reason for people to talk and socialize. Families love

to dine out and talk with one another (Francoise, 2010). This has caused eating

out to be done not out of the need to nourish oneself, but a source of satisfaction.

In the Philippines, where people love to eat as much as they love to experiment

with concocting new dishes or variations of the usual ones and cooking other
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countries’ cuisine with a Filipino twist, there is no doubt that the fun never ends

(De los Reyes et al, 2008).

Food, therefore, plays an important role in creating tourist places and

destinations, and it is recognized as a great potential and influential attraction in

tourism. Popular food tourist destinations are the places in which they have

distinctive culinary style and offer high quality products. The Philippines, being

an archipelago, has very diverse culinary characteristics, and each province

within the region has a very unique style of preparing food based on their

cultures, beliefs, traditions and heritage. Food creates different impressions and

enables a locality to have a trademark, making it famous as a destination for

tourists. Food is an extremely important part of the culture of regions here in the

Philippines, most especially in the CALABARZON area, where food and

beverages are mostly part of their festivals and celebrations. Thus, food tourism

is a possible competitive advantage and an area’s gastronomy reflects the

cultural identity and heritage of that specific place.

The food tourism branding in the selected destination restaurant in

CALABARZON area serves as the core agenda in this research focus,

particularly in determining how food tourism branding is achieved in the

destination restaurants under study.

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This particular study aims to determine how food tourism branding is

achieved in the selected destination restaurants in CALABARZON.

Specifically, it will answer the following objectives: (1) to find out the

heritage foods that the selected destination restaurants in CALABARZON area

offer; (2) to identify what constitute the food heritage offered in the selected

destination restaurants under study; (3) to determine how food tourism branding

is achieved in the selected destination restaurants in CALABARZON in terms of

their dimensions such as advertisement, distinctive culinary style, and food

variety and quality; (4) to evaluate the assessment of the restaurant owners,

patrons and marketers on food tourism branding in terms of the following

dimensions such as advertisement, distinctive culinary style, and food variety

and quality; (5) to identify if there is a significant difference in the assessment of

the respondents relative to the cited dimensions when grouped according to

province; (6) to come up with findings of the study that may contribute to the

creation of food tourism branding in CALABARZON area.

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FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY

This study will be undertaken to assess the restaurant destinations in

CALABARZON as to how advertisement, distinctive culinary style, food variety
and quality, payment, and service provider are able to create their food tourism
branding. From the perception of the patrons, the owners, and the marketers, an
objective food tourism branding can be arrived at that would pave the way for
CALABARZON area to progress and become more stable.

Advertisement

Distinctive Culinary
Style
CALABARZON CREATION
Food Variety and OF FOOD
DESTINATION
Quality TOURISM
RESTAURANTS BRANDING
Payment (Price and
Costs)

Service Provider

Schematic Diagram of the Study

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REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Food is a source of a special link. It can draw together people of different

ages, culture, religion and social background. It is also one of the time-tested line

of business that brings about local development and growth. Moreover, food is a

multi-faceted economic endeavor and is closely connected to other activities that

include tourism, health and well-being, economy, safety and security, waste

management, transportation and logistics, and the like (Cavicchi et al, 2016).

Recently, food has taken on a new role in tourism. Because of sound

advertising, tourists can associate a particular place with its cuisine and can even

picture out in their minds how the food looks like, and this magnet is irresistible.

More and more tourists would want to travel because of the food they would be

trying out, and this gives them a very pleasurable experience (Long, 2004).

Telfer and Wall (2000) disclose that dining out is equitable to 33% of the tourists’

expenses when they travel, while the Singapore Tourism Board (2007) revealed

that visitors spare more than S$1.5 billion for food and beverages. These figures

only prove that food has a significant role when tourists choose a certain

destination, and it has a great contribution to the economic ends of their

particular destination.

Richards (2015) elucidates on the role that food portrays in paving the way

for the overall branding and positioning of a specific restaurant destination. Food

is among the destination marketing mix, since it gives a sense of distinct place

and enables tourists to actually taste the destination, interspersed with the local

culture of the place. Since people consume food more than two or three

occasions in a day, gastronomy is that part of culture that tourists are often in
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close touch with. They embrace local culture. People have varied eating habits,

but they all eat – it is something that they share together. Food affords a direct

link to landscape because tourists can recognize origins of food

A number of people have studied tourists’ experiences in relation to food

when they travel. In Kim et al’s study (2010), it was disclosed that tourists who go

to restaurant destinations to try out local cuisine, take a picture of the food before

savoring it. These pictures are posted on social media to preserve the

experience as well as share with others the pleasure of having to try out

something new. It is these posts that make people want to go to a new place,

and food has a very strong, attractive pull to people.

With regards to experiences after travel, the study of Ying-Yu (2013) has

shown that tourists tend to share their experience with their contracts online.

Internet is a potent force in disseminating information about restaurant

destinations and must-try dishes. It is also a good source of information in

choosing a destination, thus online word-of-mouth testimony is very much

material to potential customers who are scouting for a place to go to for vacation.

Some are faceless critics, who may influence others negatively. Marketers

should be vigilant because just as positive reviews can rake in profit, negative

feedback online can lead to catastrophic ends to any business.

The employment of technology enables modern patrons to re-live and

impart tourism experiences and giving them the chance to actively immerse in

the destination’s food tourism branding initiative (Oliveira and Panyik, 2015).

Moreover, Neuhofer et al. (2013) also echoed that it is imperative for customers
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to co-create their experiences by means of technology just as digital marketing

communication channels allow food tourists to customize their food travel

packages, participate in self-guided food events, socialize with food tourism

businesses, and let others benefit from their experiences through social media.

A very potent destination brand distinguishes between a destination

restaurant and its competition, thus destination branding dictates survival in the

stiff competition among tourism establishments today (Qu, Kim & Im, 2011).

Food is rapidly portraying a great role when tourists decide to visit a particular

destination; and food is becoming one of the fastest developing when it comes to

the tourism industry (UNWTO, 2012). As a consequence of the uphill climb of

food tourism, many local places have begun to incorporate food in selling their

locality to magnetize people to visit their place (Lin, Pearson & Cai, 2011).

There is a scarcity of resources with regards to theses and literature,

perhaps because of the novelty of this topic, but some more may be sourced out

as the conduct of this study progresses.

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Chapter 2

Methods

METHODS

This chapter presents the manner by which the proposed study is

conducted. The participants of the research are described. The instrument in

gathering data is illustrated. The procedure in conducting the study is outlined.

Participants of the Study

This qualitative research will attempt to determine how food tourism

branding came to be in CALABARZON. To gather pertinent data, the researcher

will conduct a survey to fifty randomly-chosen respondents each from the

provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon, as well as from the

city of Lucena. He will also observe the restaurants in these areas and how

people behave and even have an informal interview with some of these

respondents to validate their responses and do key informant interviews with

restaurant owners and marketers to draw out relevant information from them.

Instrument

The instrument to be used in this study is a self-made questionnaire, the

first page of which is a letter to the respondents, explaining the reason for

conducting the survey. The second page is the questionnaire itself. The upper

part elicits personal information from the respondents, such as their name, their

province, and their classification – customer, restaurant owner, or marketer.

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Then there are fifteen open-ended questions asking the respondents to state the

destination restaurants in their province, the heritage food that their destination

restaurants specialize in, and what constitute the food heritage offered in their

restaurants as well as assess that each dimension has contributed to the food

tourism branding in the selected destination restaurants.

Since it is a self-made questionnaire, its validity and reliability need to be

established. To validate the tool, the proponent should seek the assistance of

five experts to conduct face and content validity using the criteria set forth by

Good and Scates. To ensure that the test is reliable, it should be administered

to 10 people who are not part of the actual survey. By means of triangulation –

checking for consistent responses obtained from observation, interview, and

informant interview, reliability of the instrument may be assessed.

Data Collection Procedure

After the instrument is found valid and reliable, the proponent will have it

reproduced as to the number of copies needed in the study. Once the copies are

ready, he will make a plan as to what dates he will go to the six different

provinces and city to conduct the actual survey at the same time do some

observation, informal interview, and key informant interview. When he reaches

a particular area, he will seek for the location of the destination restaurant/s and

talk with the owner/s to gather information randomly from patrons. After all the

areas are covered, he will collate the responses. He will analyze and interpret
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the data and identify relevant points and trends. Since data gathered are all

qualitative, there is no need to use any statistical tool.

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REFERENCES

Aguda, L. A. E., Tamayo, M. R. B., Barlan Jr., L. (2013), Effects of Heritage

Tourism to
the Municipality of Taal, Batangas, Philippines, Educational Research
International, 2(1), 91-95.

Cavicchi, A. and K., Ciampi Stancova, (2016); Food and gastronomy as elements
of
Regional innovation strategies. European Commission, Joint Research
Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, Spain. EUR 27757
EN; doi:10.2791/284013

Delos Reyes R. (2006) “Italian food preferences among hospitality management

in
Lyceum of the Philippines University”

Francoise, B. (2010). La cuisine, St. Petersburg, Florida ,Hachette.

Fortus et al (2012) “The Culinary Tourism in Padre Garcia Thru its Peculiar
Foods”
(pp.15).

Hall, M. (2003) “Food Tourism Around the World”

Kim, Y. -H., Goh, B. K.,& Yuan, J. (2010). Development of a Multi-

Dimensional Scale for Measuring Food Tourist Motivations. Journal of
Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 11(1), 56-71.

Lin, Y., Pearson, T. E., & Cai, L. A. (2011). Food as a form of destination identity:
A
tourism destination brand perspective. Tourism and Hospitality Research ,
11, 30-48.

Long, L. M. (2004). Culinary Tourism. Lexington: The University Press of

Kentucky.

Neuhofer, B., Buhalis, D., & Ladkin, A. (2014). A typology of technology

enhanced
experiences. International Journal of Tourism Research, 16, 340–350.

Oliveira, E. & Panyik, E. (2015). Content, context and co-creation: Digital

challenges in
destination branding with references to Portugal as a tourist destination.
Journal of Vacation Marketing, 21(1), 53-74.
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Qu, H., Kim, L. H., & Im, H. H. (2011). A model of destination branding:
Integrating
the concepts of branding and destination image. Tourism Management ,
32, 465-476.

Richards, G. (2015). Food experience as integrated destination marketing

strategy. Paper presented at the World Food Tourism Summit in Estoril,
Portugal,
April 10th, 2015.
Singapore Tourism Board (2007). Annual Tourism Statistics . Retrieved from:
https://app.stb.gov.sg/asp/tou/tou03.asp

Telfer, D. J., & Wall, G. (2000). Strengthening Backward Economic Linkages:

Local Food Purchasing by Three Indonesian Hotels. Tourism
Geographies, 2(4), 421-447.

UNWTO. (2012). Global Report on Food Tourism. Madrid: United Nations World
Tourism Organization.

Ying-Yu, Chen. 2013. The Role of Food in Tourists’ Experiences: A Case Study
of
Taiwan. Waterloo, Canada.
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Appendix A

SURVEY INSTRUMENT

January 20, 2018

Dear Respondents,

Greetings!

The undersigned is currently undertaking a research entitled, “Food Tourism Branding in

the Selected Destination Restaurants in CALABARZON.” To be able to gather pertinent
data, he would like to ask for your cooperation by answering the attached survey
questionnaire as truthfully and comprehensively as you can. The questions are open-
ended, and whatever information you can disclose will be of great help. Rest assured that
your responses will be treated with utmost confidentiality.

Thank you very much!

Truly yours,

GENE ROY P. HERNANDEZ

Researcher
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Name (optional) : __________________________________

Province : __________________________________

Classification (Please tick one) : [ ] Restaurant Owner

[ ] Patron/Customer

[ ] Marketer

1. What are the destination restaurants in your province? (Please enumerate as many
as there are.)
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

2. As far as you can remember, how long have these restaurants been in the
province? Which one is the oldest? Which one is the newest to open?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

3. Why do you think local and foreign tourists like to go to these places?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

4. How do people know about these restaurants do you think? Do these places
advertise?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

5. In your opinion, is advertisement essential to the success of a certain restaurant?

Why?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

6. What is the most effective method of advertising?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

7. What heritage food is the specialty in the destination restaurant in your province?
(Please enumerate as many as there are.) Which one is the best?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

8. What constitute the food heritage offered in the selected destination restaurants in
your province? (Please enumerate as many as there are.)
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

9. Where these ingredients are usually bought? Are they produced locally?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

10. What is the distinct culinary style of your province? Or what makes your dishes
unique?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

11. Are the prices of the food in your province cost-effective?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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12. Are the service providers in the restaurants in your province trained? What top
three things are taught to them?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

13. To what do you owe the success of the destination restaurant/s in your province?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

14. What do you think led to the creation of the food tourism branding in the selected
destination restaurant/s in your locality?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

15. In a nutshell, what then is the brand of food tourism in your province?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Thank you for your time and insights. 