An analysis of food offered in four and five star hotels located in the northern part of Malta

Abstract

The research paper investigates the tourists and food and beverage operators’ perspectives, in four and five star hotels located in the northern part of Malta. Food is not just consuming products, meanwhile tourism is not just visiting a destination but it explores deeper. Food can be seen as a tool that expresses a destination’s cultures and atmosphere. Unfortunately due to continuous standardization through globalisation, hotel restaurants seem to gradually lose local authentic Mediterranean cuisines. The total number of respondents participating in this research amounts to 70 individuals meanwhile the contribution of five interviewees helped to compare and understand results, obtained through the questionnaire. For instance Italy exports around 22million food items yearly making it one of Malta’s biggest importers. Another example would be that even though most hotel restaurants located in the north of Malta are offering standardized packages, the majority of tourists seem to be satisfied with what they are being offered. Food consumption is affected by numerous factors, through this research it can be said that the most influential aspects are food quality/ taste and price. Through literature, Buġibba offers the best hotel prices when compared with the rest of Malta. With over consumption and urbanisation, sustainability is vital. Regrettably certain stakeholders are not fully knowledgeable about this subject. With regards to quality assurance and labelling many tourists are not familiar with what is required by law. Certain food and beverage managers believe that the current laws should be enforced further. Additional research concerning food tourism is essential in Malta, since current statistics seem to be weak or out dated, if not totally absent. In order to improve what is being offered it is vital for restaurant operators to try and understand the factors affecting consumer behaviours.