THE CONNECTION OF SLOW FOOD PRINCIPLE WITH COMMUNITY- BASED TOURISM IN THAILAND: INVESTIGATING GENERATION Y PERCEPTION

Abstract

The slow food movement, a new gastronomic trend, arisen as a striking response to negative impacts of globalization with three principles of “Good, Fair and Clean. Community-based tourism covers a variety of local culture, especially local food products, services, and experiences. As the generation Y cohort represents a significant market for tourists, this article aims to explore the connection between slow food principle and community-based tourism, and evaluate slow food attributes that need to be improved related to Gen Y perspective. A questionnaire was used to collect data with 385 respondents. Five steps of the importance-performance analysis were evaluated to acquire reliability and validity issues. The findings imply the slow food principle associated with CBT food-related activities with high level of perceived importance and performance. The results of IPA reveal that the quality of food in CBT destination needs to be urgently managed to establish a memorable experience. A collaboration among CBT enterprises, government, private sector, and marketers to strengthen public awareness about slow food could be one of steppingstone toward sustainable development and healthy food culture.

Keywords

• slow food
• community-based tourism (cbt)
• generation y
• thailand