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• What did you eat the last time you ate at a restaurant? When was it?
• Have you ever taken a gastronomic trip? 
  • If so, where was it and how was the experience?
  • If not, where would you go? Talk about it.

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Culture represents an ideological perspective including beliefs, norms, values, and customs that underlie and govern conduct in a society (Assael, 1995). Along with ideological elements, culture also represents material elements including aspects such as where to travel, what to eat, what to buy and how to behave while traveling (Master and Prideaux, 2000). Clearly, a better understanding of tourist behavior with a cross-cultural perspective has become increasingly important for academics and practitioners in such a highly competitive tourism market (Reisinger and Turner, 1997; 1998). Literature on cross-cultural research in tourism, leisure and hospitality has not a long history. Most of the research began in the 1990s and last to today.

Previous cross-cultural studies in tourism, leisure and hospitality show that researchers pay attention to the comparison between West and East. The majority of the research found that differences do exist in traveling behavior. For example, a cross-cultural comparison study between Caucasian and Asian tourists was made by Ah-Keng (1993) to evaluate the attractiveness of a new theme park based on a Chinese historical concept. It was found that Caucasians and Asians are different in the types of attractions and activities they look for when visiting a theme park. Pizam and Sussmann (1995), and Pizam and Jeong (1996) interviewed a group of Korean and British tour guides, soliciting their opinions on behavioral characteristics of Japanese, French, Italian, American and Korean tourists on guided tours.

The results indicate that in 18 out of 20 behavioral characteristics there is a significant perceived difference between the different nationalities. A paired comparison found the Koreans and Japanese, as well as the Italians and French to be perceived as the most similar to each other (Pizam and Jeong, 1996; Pizam and Sussmann, 1995). Armstrong, Mok and Go (1997) examined the impact of expectation on service quality perceptions in the Hong Kong hotel industry which involved cross-cultural samples (Asian, European, English heritage, and combined guests). The study found that significant expectations and differences exist between cultural groups (Armstrong, Mok and Go, 1997). Lee (2000) made a comparative study of Caucasian and Asian visitors to a Cultural Expo in an Asian setting.

The results show that significant differences in motivations existed between Caucasians and Asians. But there were no significant differences were found between Koreans and Japanese (Asian) as well as between Americans and Europeans (Caucasian) (Lee, 2000). Kim, Prideaux, and Kim (2002) made a cross-cultural study on casino guests as perceived by casino employees in Korea’s largest casino, the Walker Hill Casino in Seoul. The guests were grouped into five major cultural groups: Japanese, Korean residents abroad, Chinese (Mainland Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong Chinese), Westerners (US citizens and Europeans), and others (mainly Sri Lankan, Philippine, Bangladeshi, Thai and Malaysian). Based on casino employees’ perceptions significant differences were observed in all 28 items of behaviors of casino customers from the five cultural groupings.

As a result, it is apparent that cultural differences will have a range of implications for management including marketing, training of staff, and service provision for guests (Kim, Prideaux, and Kim, 2002). Kim and Prideaux’s (2005) research indicates that the significant differences found in motivations to travel to Korea, the length of pretravel planning, information sources used, and length of stay among five national tourist groups (American, Australian, Japanese, Chinese (Mainland), Chinese (Hong Kong SAR)). Min (2006) employed Hofstede’s uncertainty avoidance dimension in the case of the September 21st Earthquake of 1999 in Taiwan to asses how Japanese and United States tourists’ behaviors have been affected. The results indicate that clear differences may exist between Japanese and U.S. tourists in terms of rebound status after the earthquake. The Japanese show a higher tendency to uncertainty avoidance than the Americans (Min, 2006).

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• In your opinion, which of the cities mentioned have the best food? Why?
• What is some typical food of your hometown? 
• If you move out of your city, which restaurant are you going to miss the most? Why?