International Tourists' Experiences with Ghanaian Cuisine: Implications for Food Tourism Development

Abstract

Food tourism offers a unique way of marketing the culture of a people globally. To this end, many destinations are looking for ways of promoting their food offerings for the appreciation of international tourists. This study sought to contextualise international tourists' experiences with Ghanaian cuisine for the purpose of food tourism development in Ghana. A grounded theory approach to qualitative research was used for the study. Forty international tourists were interviewed between the months of August and December 2015. Data was analysed by employing open coding, focused coding, axial coding and selective coding. This study found among other things that tourists' motivation for consun1ing Ghanaian cuisine was out of cultural curiosity, there was a reasonable sense of knowledge deficit of Ghanaian cuisine among the tourists interviewed and international tourists' experiences when it comes to service related attributes were mixed. Additionally, it was found that the overriding image of Ghanaian cuisine was spicy and oily. Finally, a proposed grounded theory of transformative consumption experience of local food could explain international tourists' experiences with Ghanaian local cuisine. It is recommended that Ghana should vigorously promote its indigenous dishes using all modem means of marketing such as social media and consumer blogs. Food safety and sanitation should be encouraged and promoted especially among street food vendors and chop bar operators. There should also be sensitization on the use of pepper and oil in Ghanaian cuisine to make them more appealing to international tourists who visit Ghana.