Importance–performance analysis of olive oil tourism activities: Differences between national and international tourists

Abstract

Olive oil tourism offers enormous potential in rural areas where extra virgin olive oil is produced. This sector is characterized by the high seasonality of its economic activity (from November to February), which generates huge inequalities between rural and urban areas, leading to high rates of unemployment and depopulation due to the lack of stable work throughout the year. The set of activities that revolve around olive oil tourism help to structure the offer and generate satisfaction with the service. This could generate a constant flow of income throughout the year and complement agricultural activity, thus reducing the seasonality problems mentioned above. In this respect, the configuration of these olive oil tourism activities represents a challenge from the supply-side perspective, especially if we take into account the differences that may arise between different groups of tourists. This article seeks to analyse and structure the main olive oil tourism activities using Importance-Performance (I-P) analysis in relation to national and international tourists’ satisfaction. The aim is to select and structure the key activities in the supply of olive oil tourism, and determine which need to be improved in order to offer a better service. These key activities differ between the two study target audiences, where a higher requirement is observed on the part of international tourists, so a series of strategies are recommended to help the management of these destinations.