Factors Determining George Town as a City of Gastronomy

In line with UNESCO's Creative Cities flagship, cities around the world are strategising to be branded as creative locations to regenerate their urban places and spaces. Under this flagship, cities are branded according to the niche activities and attractions that best exemplify their locale to the world. Innovative and creative place-brand labels have emerged such as City of Fashion, City of Literature, City of Design and, as in the present case, City of Gastronomy. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that determine and shape George Town, Penang as a creative “City of Gastronomy”. More specifically, the study explored the role of Nasi Kandar—a local George Town heritage gastronomic dish—in contributing to the city's successful branding. A standard survey questionnaire was distributed to 412 respondents in George Town to gather the perceptions of local and foreign tourists alike towards branding and harnessing the city's gastronomic competence. The findings from this study provide empirical evidence by ascertaining the perceived image and satisfaction levels of local and foreign tourists alike towards Nasi Kandar. The way George Town has acknowledged and leveraged Nasi Kandar as urban gastronomy can be emulated by other key cities in Malaysia (i.e. Ipoh, Bandar Melaka) or further afield.