Mapping Competitiveness of Culinary Destinations in India: A Framework Using Cognitive Mapping and MCDA (MACBETH) Technique

The objective of this article is to identify the determinants that have a major influence on the competitiveness of culinary destinations and further create a multicriteria evaluation index to evaluate the competitiveness of Indian culinary destinations. The methodology includes three-step processes, namely the structuring phase, evaluation phase and recommendation phase. The structuring phase involves the identification of fundamental points of view (FPVs) that have a significant influence on culinary destination competitiveness using cognitive mapping, where the food vloggers, being the experts from the culinary field, are contacted to form a cognitive map. Next in the evaluation phase, the attractiveness and their respective weights are measured by the categorical-based evaluation technique (MACBETH), and the index is formed, which is then used for evaluating 15 Indian culinary destinations selected based on literature reviews on Indian culinary destinations. Finally, suggestions are provided on the basis of results in the recommendation phase. The findings of this study suggests that Culinary Heritage is the most influential while travelling in India. Further, on the basis of the attractiveness of destinations, Delhi (DEL) and Kolkata (KOL) stand as the top performers with a score of 109.75 and 108.42, respectively, on the basis of FPVs identified. The unique way of identifying the competitive indicators from the expert’s perspective and evaluating the culinary destinations from their point of view substantially validates the research findings.