Gastronomy Attractions in Amish Country: A View of Push and Pull Motivations to Visit

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate decisions to visit Amish County (Ohio, USA)—a popular tourist destination with a rich culture and a variety of attractions that include gastronomy and nongastronomy attractions. The study evaluated two main issues: the effects push and pull factors had on customers' decisions to visit the destination and visitors' decisions to visit gastronomy attractions in the destination. The findings show that pull factors are more important than push factors in motivating a visit. The analysis also reveals that the preferences to visit gastronomy attractions can be divided to two main groups: the first group included visits to gastronomy attractions that mix culture and gastronomy and consuming food at these attractions. The second group included visits to gastronomy attractions that present food production or information about food. The study provides an interesting view of categories of gastronomy attractions and it concludes with practical suggestions to focus on marketing gastronomy sites by combining culture and gastronomy and by focusing on the experience they offer (e.g., consuming food or learning about food).