Food producers and pandemics: a mystery shopping analysis
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Recent research has widely analysed the significance of food in tourism.
Departing from the understanding of ‘cheese’ as part of the food tourism system of a
destination, this paper aims to analyse cheese factory tours as a tourism service provided by
food producers. A mystery shopping approach is used to study the 75 cheese producers
under the Manchego quality cheese. Results show the response behaviour of Spanish
Manchego cheese producers to an email sent by a ‘tourist’ who asks for a visit during
pandemic times. As a segment of food tourism, cheese tourism is gathering a growing
attention by academics and practitioners, and some cheeses became international tourist
attractions. While the majority of cheese producers have not stopped their operations, the
current health crisis has led to a suspension of cheese-based tourism experiences. The paper
informs the development of cheese-based tourism in pandemic times