An exploratory analysis of gastronomy tourism: The impact of dining attributes on satisfaction among young adult Indian travelers

Gastronomy tourism has become increasingly popular recently, drawing tourists looking for distinctive gastronomic experiences. For tourism organizations and destinations to succeed, it is crucial to comprehend the elements that go into client happiness in this area. This study attempts to dive into the thoughts of consumers and reveal how they view the crucial factors that influence their pleasure with gourmet tourism. The goal of this study is to find out what customers think are the most important parts of gastronomy tourism satisfaction based on their recent experiences. The study design is a cross-sectional survey that looks at different points in time. Convenience sampling, which is not based on chance, has been used. This study used a survey sampling technique and was based on the positivist paradigm of research. Method: A quantitative method (n = 300) called "structural equation modelling" was used. The study shows that, out of the five things that were looked at, convenience, creativity, and food quality are the most important for the success of gastronomy tourism. So, some conclusions have been made that will help managers in the tourism industry improve customer happiness. The results of this study could help both academics and people who work in the field. Gastronomy tourism is becoming more popular all over the world, but there are not a lot of scientific studies about it, especially when it comes to Indian tourists. So, this study can add to what is already known about this subject.


Introduction
The tourism and hospitality industries are becoming increasingly competitive amongst destinations across the globe [1] .Tourism continued to rise until the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in 2019 [2] .In 2020, about 100-120 million tourism jobs were at risk, and the estimated rebound time in 2021 seems to have gotten worse.Furthermore, the World Tourism Organization in the United Nations predicted that when tourism resumes, there will be an increase in demand for outdoor and nature-based experiences [2] .
Any destination must ensure that its overall appeal and tourists' experience outperform the various alternative options accessible to its potential visitors [1,3] .Push and pull factors are proven methods of examining tourist motivations [4,5] .Push factors comprise intrinsic motivations such as the need to escape from the mundane atmosphere or the betterment of self-development; whereas pull factors include the attractiveness of a particular place such as weather, beaches, entertainment, nightlife etc. [4] .
Cultural tourism is a type of tourist activity in which the primary objective of the visitor is to process and understand the tangible and intangible cultural attractions or products offered by a destination [6] .Gastronomic tourism is a part of cultural tourism in which gourmet products represent a country or place, such as the croissant and champagne, which are unique to France [7] .Gastronomic tourism is an emerging trend created as a new tourism product because food accounts for more than a third of all visitor expenditures [8] .The gastronomic attractiveness is by providing authentic goods and ser-vices to tourists and forming a connection between food, location, and community [9] .
In 2017, travel and tourism accounted for 3.6 per cent of the employment sector worldwide [10] .In 2018, this industry generated 10.4% of world GDP and helped employment [11,12] .Historical records show that in 1991 over 1.94 million Indian citizens de-parted the country, which significantly rose to 26.30 million in 2018, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.54%.Despite these broader trends, there exists a research gap concerning the dining preferences and satisfaction factors among young Indian tourists.This study aims to address this gap by exploring critical factors influencing gastronomy tourism satisfaction among young Indian tourists, with a specific focus on dining attributes.The insights derived from this exploration are expected to contribute valuable perspectives to the field, informing strategies for destinations seeking to cater to this unique and influential segment of the tourism market.Furthermore, the paper discusses the dimensions which contribute to high-quality restaurant gastronomy and sheds light on factors considered by Indian tourists before choosing a destination.

Literature review
The tourism and hospitality industries were thriving prior to the pandemic.As previously stated, destination competition was at an all-time high.There were only a few academic publications that published tourism-related research twenty years ago.However, more than 70 publications now serve a robust academic community that spans five continents and more than 3000 educational institutions [13] .The understanding of a destination's distinctive characteristics is crucial for tourism development [14] .Food is becoming a popular topic in the travel and hospitality industries [15] .Luxury gastronomy is a competitive advantage that helps to attract local and international tourists and encourages them to return to the place for a high-quality culinary experience [16] .However, there are limited studies available on how fine-dining gastronomy impacts overall tourism at-traction and this research makes an attempt to fill this gap.
According to a study about the El Celler de Can Roca restaurant, the findings al-lowed the understanding of Michelin star restaurant and its influence on the development of gastronomic tourism [17] .It is reasonable to infer that the analysis of a Michelin star restaurant's role in culinary tourism participation is quite complicated [15] .According to a 2013 NRAI report on food services in India, the fine-dining sector is increasing at a rate of 15 per cent and depends largely on the affluent consumer [18] .In India, high-end or exquisite dining is gradually maturing.While restaurants focus on providing high-quality food and a memorable dining experience, Indian consumers, who are frugal, are increasingly prepared to pay more on experiential dining [18] .

High-quality restaurant gastronomy
The Catalonia region recognizes the Mediterranean Diet's value as intangible cultural heritage and is known as a consolidated gastronomic destination [15] .According to Surenkok, Turkey does not value its culinary resources when promoting its image to tourists, and if identified and promoted it would be a tremendous boost to tourism [19] .From a business standpoint, restaurateurs are encouraged to devote significant resources to improve the ambience of a casual eating establishment.When a basic standard of food quality has been achieved, consumers will be willing to spend more on improved ambience than service even at a casual dining restaurant in India [20] .As a result, high-end restaurants have a reasonable chance of attracting customers.These observations lead to the identification of the specifics of service quality in the context of gastronomy tourism.

Service quality
Good service quality and customer satisfaction are the basic needs that restaurants would want to fulfil because these two factors lead to the gain of new customers [21,22] .Customers are no longer prepared to compromise good taste for poor service at luxurious restaurants [23] .Customers believe that the service staff personalizes every occasion be-cause their interpersonal skills are directly related to customer perceptions of an efficient service [24] .Hence, a friendly demeanor of a staff member makes customers feel welcome.A neat and well-dressed staff is an added advantage, which was found in a study carried out in Turkey [25] .Also, customers appreciate dining at a restaurant if they receive timely and dependable service [26] .According to a study, the sanitation of a restaurant comprises the cleanliness of the bathroom and dining area and the sanitation habits of staff members which forms an important component of service quality [27] .They also found that fine dining restaurants pay more importance to sanitation than some cafés and fast-food restaurants [27] .Thus, there is a need to test of service quality has an impact on High-quality Restaurant gastronomy and the following hypothesis has been postulated.People now place a higher emphasis on human touch and interpersonal relationships because the pandemic has severely reduced social encounters [28] .
Hypothesis 1: Service Quality has a significant impact on High-quality Restaurant gastronomy.

Food quality
Along with service quality, food quality which meets the needs and wants of a customer is an essential factor in the restaurant industry [29] .Food quality comprises taste, variety in the menu, nutritious options, authenticity, food safety, etc. [24,30] .Haute cuisine dishes have both gustatory and metaphorical taste to them [31] .Furthermore, as consumers' commitment to healthy lives has grown, food quality has expanded to cover food flavor, and nutrition and food safety concerns [32,33] .For instance, a study indicated that some restaurants raised awareness to offer a special menu for people with diabetes [34] .Cleanliness is the primary factor when choosing a restaurant, and if a restaurant fails to comply with the food safety rules, it results in loss of customers [35] .Customer awareness of food quality has increased post COVID-19.They exclusively eat at establishments that uphold SOPs and offer the best cuisine [36] .Price is another factor of food quality.The low price of a product or service may be perceived as goods or services with low quality [36,37] .Hence, customers are willing to pay more price for better quality [38] .Also, for restaurant businesses to be in gastronomy tourism ranking systems, they must be creative in preserving old recipes and presenting local taste that has lost its im-portance [39] .Hence, there is a need to test the impact of food quality on the High-quality Restaurant gastronomy and the following hypothesis is postulated.
Hypothesis 2: Food Quality has a significant impact on High-quality Restaurant gastronomy.

Ambience
Besides food quality and service quality, atmospheric quality also significantly contributes to customer satisfaction [40] .According to a study, classical music and sound pressure create a high sense of pleasure amongst fine-dining customers [41] .Patrons stayed longer and consumed about the same quantity of food but had more alcoholic beverages when the background music was slow [42] .The customer's comfort is a priority when designing the interior, so restaurant owners and managers could benefit from seeking advice from interior designers when designing and constructing physical environments [40] .The presence of an Open kitchen shows a strong indication of high service quality.Setting up an open kitchen in a fine dining restaurant can be expensive and requires the discipline of staff and skilled chefs [43] .It's important to remember that the physical aspects of the atmosphere such as music, aroma, etc., are in control of the restaurant managers.In luxury restaurants, managing ambience is arguably one of the most cost-effective ways to improve customer perceptions of the physical environment [44] .Hence, there is a need to test the impact of ambience on the Highquality Restaurant gastronomy and the following hypothesis is postulated.Hypothesis 3: Ambience has a significant impact on High-quality Restaurant gastronomy.

Creativity
Creativity and innovation are critical components for the growth of any organization, even in the restaurant industry [45] .Ideas in the food and hospitality industries, and thus, innovations should be a continuous process to have a better place in the competition [46] .Individuals are attracted to fine-dining restaurants because of their uniqueness and focus on creative and engaging aspects.They also want to have an exclusive experience that is not readily available in other eateries.For instance, chefs like Alain Ducasse of France and Gordon Ramsey of the United Kingdom are attracting gastronomic visitors looking for distinctive and inventive luxury culinary experiences [16] .Michelin-starred restaurants are noticing the rising wave of vegan options [47] .An innovative study evaluated several plant-based composites to generate plant-based meat substitutes with unique texture pro-files [48] .Hence, restaurants can introduce such new ingredients to increase their options.Now, robots are available in place of humans to provide service experiences and prepare food [49] .Therefore, restaurants can use technology as a tool to differentiate themselves from the rest [50] .A study conducted post the pandemic, recommend utilizing a culinary experimentation strategy to provide customers with novelty [28] .Hence, there is a need to test the impact of creativity on the High-quality Restaurant gastronomy and the following hypothesis is postulated.Hypothesis 4: Creativity has a significant impact on High-quality Restaurant gastronomy.

Convenience
The convenience dimensions include a convenient location, availability of parking spaces, a short walk distance, etc. [51] .In addition, the loss of the excess amount of time needed to reach the restaurant (e.g., hunting for a parking spot) can cause major frustration in metropolitan areas [52] .Hence, respondents are less irritated when satisfied with the quantity and quality of parking spaces available [53] .It is also distance affects tourism demand negatively [54] .Hence, there is a need to test the impact of convenience on the High-quality Restaurant gastronomy and the following hypothesis is postulated.Hypothesis 5: Convenience has a significant impact on High-quality Restaurant gastronomy.

Gastronomy tourism satisfaction
Gastronomy tourism satisfaction has been measured by different factors by the re-searchers.Following are the dimensions which have been considered in this research as they have direct bearing on satisfaction.

Environment
The role of climate parameters in the study of destination choice has been common [55] .Climate change has a direct impact on a variety of tourism-related environmental re-sources (water levels and quality, biodiversity, wildlife, and snow, among others), as well as deterrents to visitors such as tropical cyclones and background circumstances like infectious disease vectors, etc. [56] .The tourist guide is another essential factor in ensuring the tourists' safety and efficiency [57] .When the route is open primarily to choose, such as on a safari, fishing expedition, the guide must be well-versed with alternate places and access routes [57] .

Motives
Taking holidays is motivated by a desire to learn about local culture and explore new places.A study found that the ultimate reason for Chinese students taking vacations was to relax, have fun with friends and family, or take a break from studying [58] .

Price
A visitor's expenditure in tourism includes travel to and from the location and the cost of other miscellaneous expenses (accommodation, tour services, food and beverage, entertainment, etc.) [59] .When deciding on the location for travel, tourists examine the price (cost of living) at the destination compared to the merits of living at the origin and substitute destinations [60] .As a result, while determining a destination's price competitiveness, two types of prices must be considered [60] .The economic analysis of tourism reflects debates about the role of price and non-price competitiveness in the economy.Studies have sought to measure price elasticities of demand to determine the extent to which a change in relative price competitiveness influences tourism demand [61] .

High-quality restaurant gastronomy
Dining out is enjoyed by every age group, social class, and geographical community.Perhaps because it is an ordinary activity, it has been overlooked in social-scientific studies of recreational and tourist activities [62] .Also, there is an increase in consumers' desire to try luxury restaurants while taking part in tourist activities which opens up new business opportunities for restaurateurs and operators in the tourism industry [63] .The remarkable growth in global travel demand has sparked increasing interest in tourism re-search.Hence, it is not unusual that measuring tourist demands has become a prominent research topic.Due to their greater eagerness to sample traditional cuisine, tourists' sentiments toward food during the pandemic can be described as more positive than they were prior to it [64] .
Thus, the following is the hypothetical model of this research (Figure 1).

Methodology
The primary objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of High-quality Restaurant Gastronomy on the Tourism Attraction of Indian tourists.A quantitative deductive approach was employed for the present study under the positivism paradigm.A non-experimental hypothesis testing empirical research design was adopted to determine the impact of High-quality Restaurant Gastronomy on the Tourism Attraction of young Indian tourists.Convenience sampling technique was used to collect the responses through the questionnaire survey.Google Forms were used as the sampling tool for collecting the quantitative data.A pilot study was carried out for 98 respondents to test the internal consistency and reliability of the items used in the questionnaire.The redundant items were eliminated through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) for the final survey and the factor loading above 0.6 was maintained.The primary data was collected using the questionnaire (n = 300).The analysis was done using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM).The use of Smart PLS, is prominently utilized for its applicability in various fields such as management, marketing, and social sciences [65] .This method is found to be useful for complex models and is suitable for small and medium sample sizes [66] .One of the key advantages of PLS-SEM is that it does not require normally distribution in the data, and allows greater flexibility in handling various measurement scales and also smaller sample sizes [67] .The flexibility in terms of sample distribution and size makes of PLS-SEM more suitable for use with convenience sampling data [68] .This is beneficial in exploratory research or studies where the objective is not to generalize findings but to explore the relationships within a specified context [69] .
According to Hair's logic, transparency in reporting is crucial, and in studies using PLS-SEM with convenience sampling, it is important to be clear about the sampling method used and to apply rigorous model evaluation techniques.While PLS-SEM is applicable for both exploratory and confirmatory research, its use with convenience sampling is more suited for exploratory purposes [66] .The measurement model provided the reliability and validity of the data and the metric of measurement (questionnaire).The structural model enabled the hypothesis testing.Deductive mode of reasoning was adopted to generalize the findings and draw the implications of the study.

Development of the questionnaire
A structured questionnaire was developed to elicit the data required to test the hypotheses using the standard procedure.The questionnaire had two parts, the first being the demographic information and the second being the items of quantitative data collection using the Likert 5-point scale where 1 represented 'Strongly Disagree' and 5 represented 'Strongly Agree'.The demographic items recorded the respondents' gender, age, education, and monthly income.The perception of the respondents based on their most recent visit to a restaurant and destination was the basis for their response to the quantitative part, as explicitly mentioned in the questionnaire.The items in the questionnaire were chosen from standard scales of measurement developed by earlier researchers and when required they were modified slightly to suit to the requirements of gastronomy tourism in such a way that the meaning and focus of the item was not affected such that the reliability and validity of the earlier research could still be maintained in this research.Seeking the advice of seasoned experts in the fields of management and hospitality was an essential step in the pursuit of methodological rigor and the validation of the survey instrument used in this study.Seven eminent subjectmatter experts were carefully recruited to participate in the face and content validation of the survey.These experts, by virtue of their vast knowledge and practical experience, provided invaluable insight that enabled a thorough evaluation of the survey instrument's clarity and applicability.Their insightful criticism and helpful suggestions were duly taken into account, opening the door for the questionnaire to be carefully revised.The questionnaire thus developed consisted of a total of 28 items, which were later reduced to 25 items for the final survey based on factor analysis of the responses from the pilot survey.The responses obtained from the final survey were then used to measure the relationships between the constructs of the present study.This study encompasses six latent variables and three observable variables.Among them are five exogenous variables-Service quality, Food Quality, Ambience, Creativity, and Convenience-along with one endogenous variable, Gastronomy tourism satisfaction.The observable variables for Gastronomy tourism satisfaction include Environment, Motives, and Price.

Construct
Contributing authors

Standard scales Items chosen
Service Quality [52,70-74]  It is the output of the service delivery and is linked to consumer satisfaction as perceived by the customer.
The service that I received was reliable.
Food services were offered in time.
Food services were offered in time.
The staff members were friendly.
The staff members were friendly.
The staff members were neatly dressed.
The service providers were courteous.
Proper sanitation measures were implemented.
Proper sanitation measures were implemented.
There was a sense of security in all aspects of service.
The staff members were neatly dressed.
The service providers were very responsive to my queries.
I had easy access to all that I required.
Food Quality [16,52,75]  It refers to the factors associated with the satisfaction of the customer in terms of the food quality in terms of taste, nutrition content, variety etc.
The dishes had taste and nutrients in them.
The food was tasty and nutritious.
The food met my specific requirements.
The dishes were worth its price.
The dishes were worth its price, There were opportunities to taste dishes with local ingredients.
Food safety and authenticity were maintained.
Food safety and authenticity were maintained.
There were opportunities to taste dishes with local ingredients.
I would come to this restaurant again.
The variety of food was adequate.
The food was served at the right temperature.
I had a choice of several items to pick from.
The food was served with elegance.
Cleanliness was adequate.

Standard scales Items chosen
Ambience [52,73,76]  It refers to the surroundings in which the food is served and encompasses the colour, light, form, aroma, temperature, music, scenery etc., which provides an enjoyable experience during the dining.
The arrangements were appealing.
Music and interior dé cor added value to the restaurant.
The illumination was pleasant.The aroma of dishes had an impact on me.
Music and interior dé cor added value to the restaurant.
Open kitchen added to the ambience of the restaurant.
The aroma of dishes had an impact on me.
Open kitchen added to the ambience of the restaurant.
The atmosphere was pleasant.
The room temperature was to my comfort.
The space was well utilized.
The furniture was befitting.
Seating was comfortable.
The space for moving around was adequate.
Creativity [50,52,77,78]  It refers to the innovativeness and ideas used by the restaurants to strike a difference with the latest trends connected to food and service providing which includes the profiling, use of technologies, variety in menu etc.
Profile of the chef was important for me.
Profile of the chef was important for me.
The use of technology products created a memorable experience.
The use of technology products created a memorable experience.
I was offered special menu e.g., Vegan food.
I was offered special menu e.g., Vegan food.

Results
This section may be divided by subheadings.It should provide a concise and precise description of the experimental results, their interpretation, as well as the experimental conclusions that can be drawn.

Data collection and measurement
The responses for the survey were collected using Google Forms.The constructs, along with the number of items in each, have been mentioned in Table 1.A mixture of non-random convenient and snowball sampling techniques was used for the data collection.The online Google forms were circulated to the respondents via various online channels, and the respondents were asked to circulate the form to their peers with Indian citizenship.A pilot study was carried out for 98 respondents to test the internal consistency and reliability of the items used.After the removal of the redundant items from the questionnaire, a final survey was carried out of 398 respondents, out of which 98 redundant responses were removed.The final responses were tabulated in an excel sheet and analysed using SmartPLS 3.0.An SEM analysis was carried out to test the data.
The collected dataset was analysed in two steps.The first step was carrying out a Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the data.The CFA is carried out to test the convergent validity and the discriminant validity [80] .According to Hair et al. [80] , convergent validity is carried out to test the extent of correlation between the items, and discriminant validity tests the extent to which the dimensions clearly measured the research constructs developed.The second step in the SEM analysis involved the computation of the structural model, which was used to determine correlations between all the dimensions used in the conceptual model [80] .SEM was preferred over other techniques due to its ability to test and correct measurement error [80] .The technique assumes the presence of errors in the data and generates measures for the error [80] .Finally, the results of the SEM analysis obtained from SmartPLS® 3.0 was reported and concluded.

Measurement model
The first assessment in SEM is the measurement model [80] .The indicator reliability, internal consistency reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the specified constructs are all evaluated in the measurement model.The reliability and validity scores (Outer loadings > 0.6, Cronbach's Alpha > 0.6, coefficient, Rho-A > 0.7, R-square >0.1) (Tables 3-5) are in the range of values as recommended by the earlier researchers, and also, the Average Variance Extracted for each item is above the inter-item correlations of that dimension with the remaining dimensions [81][82][83][84] .A strong correlation between a construct and its real performance is indicated by an AVE value of 0.6 to 0.9 [84] .Cronbach's alpha is used to measure composite reliability (CR), which is the extent to which scale items are consistent among themselves.In social science, a Cronbach's alpha approximation in the range of 0.6 to 0.9 signifies the reliability of each item's factor loading [85] .In SEM-PLS, rho-A values of 0.6 or above are regarded as satisfactory [86] .It can be observed that three of the five hypotheses are supported (Table 6) i.e., CNV → GST (β = 0.145; t = 2.667 and p = 0.008 < 0.05), CRT → GST (β = 0.441; t = 7.884 and p = 0.00 < 0.05) and FDQ →GST (β = 0.127; t = 1.884 and p = 0.054 < 0.05).Thus, it implies that convenience, creativity and food quality have a significant and positive relationship with the gastronomic satisfaction, whereas the remaining dimensions i.e., ambience quality and service quality are not significant predictors.

Analysis of variance and regression analysis
To identify the overall impact of the selected dimensions on satisfaction of the tourists on gastronomic tourism, the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the Regression Analysis have been performed.It can be observed that on the overall basis the respondents were satisfied with the gastronomy tourism (Table 7) (F = 38.88;alpha = 0.00).The regression equation provides the empirical relationship of the individual dimensions with gastronomy tourism satisfaction (Table 8 and Equation 1).The analysis of variance and regression analysis in our study was conducted with a confidence level of 95%.Table 9 also provides the details of regression (detailed in Table 9).

Discussion
First of all, the findings of this research have shown that convenience has a significant impact on gastronomic satisfaction, which is in corroboration with some of the previous studies [52,85] .Secondly, the findings have indicated a significant impact of food quality on high-quality restaurant gastronomy, which is in line with the findings of previous studies [16,52,73,87] .Finally, the impact of creativity having a significant impact on gastronomic satisfaction was supported by the SEM analysis, which is in line with the findings of the work of Vargas-Sanchez and López-Guzmá n [77] and Goldfarb [88] .Therefore, the study establishes a connection between fine dining and Indian tourists through the increasing demand for high-quality gastronomic experiences.The research suggests that Indian tourists, particularly the younger demographic, value creativity, food quality, and convenience in their dining experiences, which are often hallmarks of fine dining establishments.On the other hand, our study did not find ambience quality and service quality to be significant predictors, raising interesting considerations for further exploration.
The present study aimed to determine the impact of some of the basic elements of gastronomy tourism on gastronomy satisfaction for Indian tourists.While the finding of this study is in agreement with earlier studies [16,71,72] , the results have also differed from some of the previous studies specifically on ambience quality [50,52,73,[76][77][78] and similarly, environment and motives [14,79] .These discrepancies in findings could be due to various reasons including social, demographic, cultural and economic backgrounds of the respondents.Although most of the respondents in this research were graduates between 18 to 25 years, primarily consisting of graduates with relatively lower incomes, have demonstrated a surprising readiness to pay more for dining experiences.This willingness to spend is attributed to a changing mindset within this demographic, which places a premium on factors such as creativity, convenience, and food quality.Despite the financial constraints commonly associated with this age group, there appears to be a discernible shift towards prioritizing unique and high-quality culinary experiences over more conventional dining preferences.This trend suggests that, for this segment of Indian tourists, the experiential value of dining has become increasingly important, influencing their willingness to allocate a higher budget for memorable culinary experiences.On the other hand, the age group of 18 to 25 years, which constitutes the critical mass of the respondents in this research, may have their focus on convenience, creativity, and food quality with creativity as the prominent factor due to the natural curiosity and excitement to explore newer things in that stage of one's life.

Theoretical and practical implications
The present study adds to the existing body of knowledge in high-quality restaurant gastronomy and tourism attraction.The study on gastronomy is mainly undertaken in the western countries and there are no prominent studies based on the developing nations more specifically in Indian context.
The theoretical implications of this research are in the form of the empirical model that has been developed which related the gastronomy tourism satisfaction to its predictors.This equation provides the theoretical foundation for the mathematical model which has been developed specifically in the context of developing countries like India.The model has explained about 40 percent of variance so there is scope for future researchers to explore further and identify the other dimensions which may have bearing on the gastronomy tourism as the field is growing rapidly.In today's world of tourism there are different classes of tourists with many different tourism motives such as adventure tourism, accessible tourism, agritourism, alternative tourism, atomic tourism etc., and the list keeps growing owning to the uniqueness of a country or a region.The theoretical model developed in this research could be the base model for future research as it deals with the basis dimensions of tourist satisfaction.
The practical implication of this research is mainly for the managers of gastronomy tourism and is essentially based on the critical factors which provide satisfaction to the customers who have a specific motive behind their tourism endeavor on the overall basis.The first inference that could be drawn was that on the overall basis the Indian tourists have been satisfied with the gastronomy tourism.Further, based on the dimensional level of findings, it can be deduced that in gastronomy tourism, the focal dimensions are convenience, creativity and food quality as they have a significant impact on the gastronomy tourist satisfaction.
Convenience is a factor that the service providers of gastronomy tourism have to focus on if they have to attract more tourists under this category as implied in this research findings.The managers of gastronomy tourism have to conduct periodic surveys and keep track of the ever-changing parameters of convenience factor in tourism.It could be in the form of convenience of location of the stay from the airport, proximity to their areas of gastronomic interest, the travel facilities and the comfort they provide, reach from park to the room, location of the dining hall from the room of stay etc.The managers of the gastronomy tourism may have to look into these aspects closely and monitor the level of satisfaction of the customers on this dimension.
Creativity is another factor which has emerged to be another critical factor which provides satisfaction to the gastronomy tourists.The profile of the chef, use of technology and availability of exceptional food like vegan food could be the demonstration points of creative endeavor of the service providers.Creativity in gastronomy tourism so to say is limitless and it can be demonstrated from the point of receiving the customers to their departure at every single service delivery point.It could be the display of the placard at the point of receipt, transfer route from airport to the hotel, welcome drink, display of the places of visit, brochures and instructions, expressions of the travel guides, scheduling of the events, display of food items, etc. Open kitchen could also add to the creativity.The whole idea is that the tourists should return home with a feeling that their visit was much different from all the earlier visits and there was uniqueness in the hospitality shown to them.Food quality has also been identified to be a critical factor by the gastronomy tourists, which is quite obvious as the very type of tourism was gastronomy tourism.The tourist managers may have to look into the service delivery in 'eating' and 'drinking' and make every single encounter a highly enjoyable experience.While hygiene and cleanliness these days has become the basic requirement post COVID-19, the taste, aroma, and the ambience may have to be looked into to the minute detail.

Conclusion
This research has captured the gastronomy tourism experience of Indian tourists in order to identify the critical factors of satisfaction.With a population of over 1.4 billion, India has a vast and diverse group of tourists who are willing to explore the world under different forms of tourism among which gastronomy has been identified to be one, and every year the number of tourists is growing steadily in the country.The study's demographics of the participants reveal a balanced gender distribution, with 58% females, 41.3% males, and 0.7% identifying as others.The majority of participants, 90%, fall within the age range of 19 to 25 years, highlighting the youthful inclination towards gastronomic exploration.With the increase in resources available and travel time of Indian tourists, numerous worldwide destinations are interested in learning about their preferences to customize their gastronomy tourism package and this research can contribute to this need.Participants predominantly represented the graduate demographic (70%), underlining the importance of targeting this educated segment when developing and marketing gastronomy tourism experiences.Additionally, the majority of respondents had a monthly income below 50,000 INR (74.34%), emphasizing the importance of cost considerations in designing tourism packages.
Through empirical evidence, this study authenticates critical factors crucial for enhancing the gastronomy tourism satisfaction of Indian tourists.It is noteworthy that convenience, creativity, and food quality emerged as the most influential factors, aligning with the preferences of the predominantly youthful and educated participants.There are basically two means to encash on the gastronomy tourism interest of Indian tourists.First is to attract the tourists to their country so that they may be exposed to the tourism experience in their own natural and climatic experiences.Second, similar ambience may be created in Indian tourist spots and provide the gastronomy tourism experience in the domestic settings itself as the focus is food and drinks with its associated features.The latter would be at the cost of losing the originality but compensated well through the cost benefits.Given the income distribution of participants in the study, creating such experiences in India could further stimulate domestic tourism, benefiting the country's economy and fostering opportunities for collaboration with foreign partners.In both the cases the outcome of this research would be useful as it has contributed through the identification of the critical factors of gastronomy tourism satisfaction.Furthermore, the study focuses on Indian tourists' factors while selecting a destination, which would help tourism operators.
Through this research by hypotheses testing, it could be concluded that convenience, creativity and food quality were the most distinguished factors which had a significant impact on gastronomy tourism satisfaction of Indian tourists.Accordingly, implications have been drawn to enhance the satisfaction of tourists and they could benefit the managers of gastronomy tourism in designing the service planning and delivery.While ambience quality and service quality were not found to be the significant factors it does not mean that they may be ignored, but it was identified that they were not as important as the rest of the factors.So, these factors also cannot be ignored by the service providers in gastronomy tourism.It is important to note that the majority of the respondents were in the age group of 18 to 25 years so the conclusion cannot be generalized to all the groups.
This study has provided both theoretical and practical implications thus contributing to the body of knowledge in gastronomy tourism.However, it is important to highlight some of the limitations of the study so that it could open scope for future research.First of all, as mentioned before generalization may be constrained, as the perceptions are dominated by the youth as majority of the respondents were from that cohort.So, the study could be expanded and improved by collecting controlled data from all ages, additionally, increasing the sample size is suggested to enhance the generalizability The study based on income group classification would also be meaningful, as there is a wide gap of choices and preferences of the tourists in terms of their income groups and in India there is a wide gap between these groups i.e., lower, mid and high class in terms of their affordability despite the fact that attraction towards gastronomy tourism is spread across the groups.Additionally, while the present study leveraged SmartPLS with convenience sampling, there are limitations and cautions to be considered.It primarily serves for model exploration and hypothesis generation, and findings should not be generalized to a larger population [80] ; efforts should be made to ensure that the convenience sample is as representative as possible of the target group relevant to the research question [88] .For future improvement, researchers may explore strategies to enhance the representativeness of convenience samples and consider complementary methods to strengthen the robustness of their findings.One more limitation of the study is in terms of its approach which is purely quantitative using the positivist paradigm.So, a follow-up using qualitative approach using the constructivist or interpretivist paradigm may be further value addition to the body of knowledge.A mixed-methods approach through pragmatist paradigm is also recommended strongly for the future researchers in this field.
Despite the present study's extensive research design, the findings necessitate further examination.The Covid'19 pandemic brought turmoil into the whole world and while many businesses were affected adversely, the tourism and hospitality industries were the worst hit.Post pandemic, it could take many years to recuperate from the pandemic's impacts completely.Meanwhile, tourist expectations and preferences would change all over the world.Thus, upon the betterment of the situation, priorities will change, and longitudinal research is strongly recommended as this research was cross-sectional.Despite all these aspects, on the overall basis this research contributes to the empirical studies in gastronomy tourism and provides a systematic research using quantitative approach.A further study considering the parameters of a pandemic would yield a precise result for Indian travelers.Tourism has grown considerably in the past few decades and newer dimensions are being added to it to make it more attractive to the customers, and this research is an attempt to empirically test the preferences of the customers in order to enhance their satisfaction.

Figure 2
Figure 2 below shows the results from Smart PLS explaining the path model.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Path model of gastronomic tourism dimensions.

Table 1
lists the contributing authors, description, standard scales, and number of items in this research and Table2lists the study details related to Measures of Dependent variable.

Table 1 .
Measures of independent variables.

Table 2 .
Measures of dependent variable "Gastronomy Tourism Satisfaction".

Table 4 .
Reliability and validity scores.

Table 8 .
ANOVA of the gastronomy satisfaction.

Table 9 .
Regression analysis of gastronomy satisfaction.