The influence of special dietary needs on tourist satisfaction and behavioral intention: Satisfiers or dissatisfiers?

In a globalized world, incoming tourists bring with them a variety of expectations. As destinations are coming to accept the variability of consumer needs, destination managers seek to identify additional factors that can determine tourists' evaluations and intentions. This study promotes the ability to satisfy tourist dietary needs as an antecedent factor influencing the experience outcomes. It is among the first to demonstrate the links between diverse tourist dietary needs, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. We found that all three groups of dietary needs (religious, medical, lifestyle) have an effect on satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Our results confirm that the relationship between tourist dietary needs and destination evaluation and intentions is not symmetrical. The higher the perceived importance of tourists' dietary needs, the more likely they are to be satisfied with a destination that can cater to their needs. Satisfied tourists are more likely to revisit and recommend the destination to others. However, the effects of dietary needs on dissatisfaction are not significant. The destination's inability to satisfy dietary needs does not necessarily reduce willingness to recommend or revisit. The results of this study support the notion that destination's dietary preparedness is associated with better experience outcomes. The study concludes with important implications for destination managers.