Does food besides tourism core products contribute to Sabah destination image? - Theory and Practice in Hospitality and Tourism Research - page 486

products with the activities, experiences and other
intangible aspects. In line with this, an excel-
lent range of tourism products together with the
natural resources activities, marine and cultural
with the promotion and advertisements directly
establishing Sabah's image as one of the world-
class tourist destination (Sabah Tourism Report,
2012).
As tourists cannot leave their taste bud while
travelling, Goeldner and Ritchie (2006) therefore
argue food and accommodation cannot be ignored
by tourists. Food, in fact, is considered as one of
the most integral elements to tourists when they
are on traveling. Food has become a 'focal point'
for travel decision-making and the hallmarks
attraction of a number of destinations around the
world (Hall & Sharples, 2003). Numerous tourism
regions, in fact, see foods as an essential part of the
local heritage and that can attract tourists. In this
sense, tourists or travelers in addition to traveling
activities, will also encounter or consume the vari-
ous types of food in the country or destination that
they are visiting. In other word, during the period
of their vacation, they will definitely experience
the varieties of food and beverages, as well as learn
about the food culture and heritage of that par-
ticular country. Lertputtarak (2012) strongly argue
that food at the destination is the fundamental and
essential for tourists' destination selections thus
indubitable that food besides other main tourism
products could create the destination image for
that particular country.
With the above nation and in the case of Sabah,
the international tourists who visited this state
are assumed to have tasted or consumed the local
food or delicacies in addition to experiencing the
marine, natural resources and cultural events as the
core tourism products. In line with this, some ques-
tions related to local food and the international
tourists could be probed? Do Sabah food besides
the marine, natural resources and cultural contrib-
ute to Sabah destination image and what are the
levels of consumption of Sabah local food among
the international tourists? In other words, what are
moderating effects of local food through interna-
tional tourists' level of consumption toward Sabah
as destination image?
To date, there is still unclear understanding of
how and to what extent the Sabah local food con-
tributes it as a tourism destination as compared
to other attributes. There has been in fact a very
limited analysis looking the relationship between
foods and tourism destination (Scarpato, 2002)
and none of those available studies looking at
Malaysia perspectives. This highlighted issue is
warrants empirical investigation and the finding
yet to be revealed with the investigation is still in
the process.

4 CONCLUSION

There is still unclear understanding of how and to
what extent the local food of particular tourism
destination besides it tourism core products con-
tributes to tourism destination image as still lim-
ited analysis looking at it. It is hope understanding
on the stipulated issue will create awareness and in
the context of this study Sabah state government,
tourism authority, hotel and food operators on
the importance of local food to the state tourism
development besides it tourism core products. In
addition, besides strengthening its core tourism
products, gastronomic products which represent
all ethnics could be promoted and in the long run
this human necessity product is gradually being
recognized internationally and at the same time
creating its image and continuously boost up the
state economy.

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