María Teresa Kido Cruz

La satisfacción del comensal como elemento clave del binomio gastronomía-turismo en Tijuana

With the growing interest in gastronomy, as a value for tourism destinations, the issue of satisfied customers becomes paramount. Therefore, in this paper, the diners of the two most important gastronomic areas in Tijuana (downtown and Gastronomic District), Mexico were surveyed. The objective, besides briefly characterizing both places, was to measure the degree of consumer´s satisfaction, as well as to identify the specific factors that determine it. Methodology: For the analysis, the non-participant observation technique and a structural equations model (PLS) with five constructs and 13 observed variables were proposed. It also further investigates the importance-performance matrix analysis (IPMA). Results: Results show satisfied customers for both zones with an opportunity of improving the quality of service in the Center area and the perception of the area in the Gastronomic District. Limitations: The main limitation is the lack of inclusion of the construct expectations in the model. Conclusions: From the results, we concluded that the client, in both areas, is satisfied, detecting an opportunity of improving the quality of service in the Center area and the perception of the area in the Gastronomic District.