The tourist experience at urban food markets: a qualitative study in Palermo (Sicily)

Purpose: Food markets have gathered a growing attention by tourism researchers and practitioners in recent years. Many destinations have placed food markets as a tourism attraction which allows visitors to discover a territory through its food. Drawing on the understanding of markets as identity and tourism icons, this paper aims to analyze the role of urban food markets in the different stages of the tourist experience from a visitor perspective. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve this, a qualitative design was implemented to interview 18 tourists who visited for the first time the city of Palermo, the capital of the Mediterranean island of Sicily, Italy. Findings: The results of this study show the factors that drive the motivations, the experiences and the satisfaction of visitors to food markets and provide relevant perspectives into the management and marketing of food tourism in urban environments. Originality/value: The originality of this paper lies on the understanding of the relationships between visitor experiences and urban food markets.