Cooking Class Travel in Thailand: An Investigation of Value Co-Creation Experiences

Abstract

Cooking class travel (CCT) is a special form of food economy that is emerging worldwide, especially in Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand. CCT is a touristic activity with strong value co-creation characteristics, but it is scarcely investigated on how tourists and hosts can work together to co-create the experience and value in CCT. Thus, based on value co-creation theory, this study adopts a rigorous content analysis approach to inspect the value co-creation mechanism of CCT in Thailand. Results reveal a value co-creation framework for CCT—from resources to practices to the final outcomes—offering academia and practitioners an in-depth insight into this fast-developing type of tourism economy and extending value co-creation theory to a new research area.