Factors that characterize oleotourists in the province of Córdoba

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 17; no. 11; p. e0276631
• Main Authors: Cava Jimenez, José Antonio, Millán Vázquez de la Torre, Mª Genoveva, Dancausa Millán, Mª Genoveva
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco Public Library of Science 03-11-2022; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Agricultural research; Culinary tourism; Cultural heritage; Economic aspects; Food products; Food quality; Olive oil; Olives; Recipes; Restaurants; Rural areas; Social aspects; Tourism; Tourists; Spain
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276631

Oleotourism (olive oil tourism) is a new form of gastronomic tourism that satisfies increasingly challenging tourist demand, especially in the wake of the pandemic and for tourists who seek not only quality food products but also a safe environment to enjoy their chosen activity. Córdoba is a province in southern Spain where olives play a very important role, accounting for 50% of its cultivated area, and whose agricultural activity can be complemented with tourism due to its 189 oil mills that can welcome visitors for oil tasting. However, this type of tourism is not seeing an expected boom. This research analyzes, through a varimax analysis, the factors that attract and drive oleotourists as well as the components of such tourism. As a result, four principal components related to tourists and tourism offers were obtained, finding a high degree of satisfaction of oleotourist with the routes explored as well as a lack of knowledge of this type of tourism in international markets.