Die kulinarische Attraktivität des Reiselandes Österreich: Selbstbild vs. Aussensicht/Austria’s Image as a Culinary Tourism Destination: Selfimage versus Outside Perspective

Zusammenfassung

Regionale Produkte und Spezialitäten prägen das Image eines Reiseziels entscheidend mit und beeinflussen die Attraktivität einer Destination. Kulinarik kann somit helfen, eine einzigartige Positionierung aufzubauen und dadurch Wettbewerbsvorteile zu generieren. Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es daher, zu untersuchen, wie Österreich von den Österreichern selbst und – im Vergleich dazu – im bedeutendsten Herkunftsmarkt Deutschland als Kulinarikreisedestination wahrgenommen und bewertet wird. Hierfür wurden mittels einer repräsentativen Onlinebefragung Österreicher und Deutsche zu ihren Interessen an kulinarischen Angeboten interviewt. Außerdem sollten Österreicher und Deutsche jeweils das Angebot in einzelnen kulinarischen Bereichen – u. a. Obst, Gemüse, Fleisch- und Wurstwaren, Wein, Brot – bewerten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sich das „Selbstbild“ der Österreicher die heimische Kulinarik und das Angebot betreffend deutlich von der „Außensicht“ der Deutschen unterscheidet. Neben neuen Erkenntnissen für den akademischen Wissensstand konnte eine Reihe von Ableitungen für die touristische Praxis formuliert werden. In der abschließenden Zusammenfassung wird auf mögliche Ursachen der identifizierten Diskrepanzen eingegangen. Die Studie wurde durch das Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Wirtschaft (bmwfw) finanziert.

Abstract

Local products and specialities strongly shape the image of a tourism destination and influence its perceived attractiveness. Moreover, regional food can help to establish uniqueness and can thereby lead to competitive advantages. The aim of this study was to examine Austria’s image as a culinary tourism destination. For this purpose, the perceived culinary self-image of Austrians was assessed. Furthermore, the culinary image that Germans have of Austria was investigated and compared with Austrians’ self-image, since Germany constitutes the largest international source market of tourism in Austria. For the study, a theoretically representative online survey was conducted in Austria and Germany. A quota sample was drawn according to the following criteria: age, gender and place of residence of respondents. This resulted in a sample size of n = 762 for Austria and n = 506 for Germany. In the questionnaire, respondents were asked to state their culinary associations with various tourism destinations and their specific interest in culinary products and offers (such as fruits, vegetables, meat and sausages, wine, bread, food and wine tastings, culinary events, café culture etc.). Additionally, respondents had to assess diverse culinary offers in Austria. Data was collected in February 2015 and subsequently analysed using SPSS, version 21. Results show that the Austrians’ rating of their own country’s culinary offer is significantly higher than its external rating by Germans. Another finding is that Austria is not seen as the first-choice culinary destination, either by Austrians, or by Germans. However, in the ranking of culinary tourism destinations, Austria is placed considerably higher by Austrians (second place) than by Germans (sixth place). It can be assumed that information on culinary offers is not as easily accessible for foreign visitors as for domestic travellers. In addition, the culinary map of Austria (http://map.kostbaresoesterreich.at) shows that the density of regional culinary offers is lower in Western parts of Austria, where traditionally most German tourists travel to. This may affect their culinary image of Austria. Eastern parts of Austria account for the bulk of domestic tourism. Besides, culinary tourism is more predominant in those areas. This may explain why the culinary offer is rated higher by Austrians. In conclusion, it can be seen that many Austrian tourism destinations have great potential in exploiting their culinary offers and can be strongly urged to strengthen their communication efforts in that direction. Every destination’s culinary offer should be promoted in order to provide opportunities for differentiation. It is essential to maintain the existing high product quality offered throughout the country and to highlight interesting regional and local specialities. Additionally, a newly designed offer to meet the needs of our time (e.g. through experience design) combined with clear communication of regional product offers is strongly needed.