Quality versus quantity: An assessment of the impact of Michelin-starred restaurants on tourism in Spain

Jose Castillo-Manzano ^[1] ; Mercedes Castro-Nuño ^[1] ; Lourdes Lopez-Valpuesta ^[1] ; Álvaro Zarzoso ^[1]
1. [1] Universidad de Sevilla
  
  Universidad de Sevilla
  
  Sevilla, España
Localización: Tourism economics: the business and finance of tourism and recreation, ISSN 1354-8166, Vol. 27, Nº. 5, 2021, págs. 1166-1174
Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
- The number of internationally recognized Michelin-starred restaurants in a place is a new trend used to measure a tourist destination’s culinary standard. The purpose of this study is to close the gap created by the lack of econometric studies on the tourist attraction of Michelin-starred restaurants, especially in Spain. Panel data methodology is applied to 50 Spanish NUTS-3 regions over a broad time period (2000–2016) to assess the impact of Michelin-starred restaurants on tourism demand from both domestic and foreign tourists. The findings show that restaurant quality is more important than quantity in the gastronomy–tourism relationship and that Michelin-starred restaurants are a strong attraction for foreign tourists. Some policies are suggested, such as the development of Culinary Schools and marketing campaigns to promote haute cuisine tourism.