Tourism Induced by Aspects of Food - Exploring Expanded Meaning of Food Tourism after COVID-19

This study attempts to explore possibility of expanded meaning of food tourism.COVID-19 has changed the form of travel and tourism due to physical travel restriction.With the restriction and advanced technology such as internet and metaverse, the meaning of travel has been changed.In regard of food tourism, however, most of the researches still focus on food tourism with traditional physical travel.Through analyizing definition of food tourism and understanding the meaning of mobilities in previous studies, this study suggests expanded meaning of food tourism and diverse forms of food tourism.With the advanced technology, the meaning of mobilities may not just include physical moving from one place to another, and what people think tourism is changed.In line with the shift of the tourism paradigm, the meaning of food tourism can be extended, and diverse form of tourism induced by aspects of food has already been detected during and before the pandemic.Based on this, a conceptual categorization of food tourism was suggested.First, moving food tourism, which is traditional food tourism with physical travelling, and second, stationary food tourism, which includes online food travel and experiencing new culture through food at home, and phygital food tourism, which is hybrid form of food tourism.Practical implications for destination management organization were also discussed.