Gender, age and education differences in food consumption within a region: Case studies of Belgrade and Novi Sad (Serbia)

Abstract

Nowadays, each tourist visits a region for certain reasons, a different type of tourism, but besides the main motives, food and beverages are an inevitable attraction. Some tourists' characteristics, such as gender, age and education of tourists, contribute significantly to food and beverages consumption. The authors recognized the importance of gender, age, and education in analyzing food and beverage consumption as an important component of tourist products. The study makes a significant conceptual contribution towards the spatial/economic development for those who are seeking to integrate local food and beverage into the tourist product.

Full text

ACTA GEOGRAPHICA
SLOVENICA
GEOGRAFSKI
ZBORNIK
2019
59
2
0101661851779
ISSN 1581-6613
ACTA GEOGRAPHICA SLOVENICA •GEOGRAFSKI ZBORNIK •59-2 •2019
ACTA GEOGRAPHICA SLOVENICA
GEOGRAFSKI ZBORNIK
59-2 •2019
Contents
Drago PERKO, Rok CIGLIČ, Mauro HRVATIN
The usefulness of unsupervised classification methods for landscape typification: The case of Slovenia 7
Vladimir M. CVETKOVIĆ, Kevin RONAN, Rajib SHAW, Marina FILIPOVIĆ, Rita MANO,
Jasmina GAČIĆ, Vladimir JAKOVLJEVIĆ
Household earthquake preparedness in Serbia: A study of selected municipalities 27
Iwona CIEŚLAK
Spatial conflicts: Analyzing a burden created by differing land use 43
Ivan PAUNOVIĆ, Verka JOVANOVIĆ
Sustainable mountain tourism in word and deed: A comparative analysis in the macro
regions of the Alps and the Dinarides 59
Nikola Darko VUKSANOVIĆ, Dragan TEŠANOVIĆ, Bojana KALENJUK, Milijanko PORTIĆ
Gender, age and education differences in food consumption within a region: Case studies of Belgrade
and Novi Sad (Serbia) 71
Special issue – Franciscean cadaster as a source of studying
landscape changes
Matej GABROVEC, Ivan BIČÍK, Blaž KOMAC
Land registers as a source of studying long-term land-use changes 83
Ivan BIČÍK, Matej GABROVEC, Lucie KUPKOVÁ
Long-term land-use changes: A comparison between Czechia and Slovenia 91
Lucie KUPKOVÁ, Ivan BIČÍK, Zdeněk BOUDNÝ
Long-term land-use / land-cover changes in Czech border regions 107
Drago KLADNIK, Matjaž GERŠIČ, Primož PIPAN, Manca VOLK BAHUN
Land-use changes in Slovenian terraced landscapes 119
Daniela RIBEIRO, Mateja ŠMID HRIBAR
Assessment of land-use changes and their impacts on ecosystem services in two Slovenian
rural landscapes 143
Mojca FOŠKI, Alma ZAVODNIK LAMOVŠEK
Monitoring land-use change using selected indices 161
naslovnica 59-2_naslovnica 49-1.qxd 20.5.2019 8:39 Page 1

ACTA GEOGRAPHICA
SLOVENICA
GEOGRAFSKI
ZBORNIK
2019
59
2
0101661851779
ISSN 1581-6613
ACTA GEOGRAPHICA SLOVENICA •GEOGRAFSKI ZBORNIK •59-2 •2019
ACTA GEOGRAPHICA SLOVENICA
GEOGRAFSKI ZBORNIK
59-2 •2019
Contents
Drago PERKO, Rok CIGLIČ, Mauro HRVATIN
The usefulness of unsupervised classification methods for landscape typification: The case of Slovenia 7
Vladimir M. CVETKOVIĆ, Kevin RONAN, Rajib SHAW, Marina FILIPOVIĆ, Rita MANO,
Jasmina GAČIĆ, Vladimir JAKOVLJEVIĆ
Household earthquake preparedness in Serbia: A study of selected municipalities 27
Iwona CIEŚLAK
Spatial conflicts: Analyzing a burden created by differing land use 43
Ivan PAUNOVIĆ, Verka JOVANOVIĆ
Sustainable mountain tourism in word and deed: A comparative analysis in the macro
regions of the Alps and the Dinarides 59
Nikola Darko VUKSANOVIĆ, Dragan TEŠANOVIĆ, Bojana KALENJUK, Milijanko PORTIĆ
Gender, age and education differences in food consumption within a region: Case studies of Belgrade
and Novi Sad (Serbia) 71
Special issue – Franciscean cadaster as a source of studying
landscape changes
Matej GABROVEC, Ivan BIČÍK, Blaž KOMAC
Land registers as a source of studying long-term land-use changes 83
Ivan BIČÍK, Matej GABROVEC, Lucie KUPKOVÁ
Long-term land-use changes: A comparison between Czechia and Slovenia 91
Lucie KUPKOVÁ, Ivan BIČÍK, Zdeněk BOUDNÝ
Long-term land-use / land-cover changes in Czech border regions 107
Drago KLADNIK, Matjaž GERŠIČ, Primož PIPAN, Manca VOLK BAHUN
Land-use changes in Slovenian terraced landscapes 119
Daniela RIBEIRO, Mateja ŠMID HRIBAR
Assessment of land-use changes and their impacts on ecosystem services in two Slovenian
rural landscapes 143
Mojca FOŠKI, Alma ZAVODNIK LAMOVŠEK
Monitoring land-use change using selected indices 161
naslovnica 59-2_naslovnica 49-1.qxd 20.5.2019 8:39 Page 1

ACTA GEOGRAPHICA SLOVENICA
59-2
2019
ISSN: 1581-6613
COBISS: 124775936
UDC/UDK: 91
© 2019, ZRC SAZU, Geografski inštitut Antona Melika
International editorial board/mednarodni uredniški odbor: David Bole (Slovenia), Michael Bründl (Switzerland), Rok Ciglič
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letih omogočile globlje razumevanje kraških procesov (fotografija: Matej Lipar).

Acta geographica Slovenica, 59-2, 2019, 71–80
GENDER, AGE AND EDUCATION
DIFFERENCES IN FOOD CONSUMPTION
WITHIN AREGION: CASE STUDIES
OF BELGRADE AND NOVI SAD (SERBIA)
Nikola Darko Vuksanović, Dragan Tešanović, Bojana Kalenjuk, Milijanko Portić
Food consumption contributes significantly to regional development.
NATIONAL TOURISM ORgANISATION Of SERbIA

Nikola Darko Vuksanović, Dragan Tešanović, Bojana Kalenjuk, Milijanko Portić, Gender, age and education differences …
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/AGS.5160
UDC: 911.3:338.48-6:641(497.1)
314:641(497.1)
COBISS: 1.01
Gender, age and education differences in food consumption within aregion:
Case studies of Belgrade and Novi Sad (Serbia)
ABSTRACT: Nowadays, each tourist visits aregion for certain reasons, adifferent type of tourism, but
besides the main motives, food and beverages are an inevitable attraction. Some tourists’ characteristics,
such as gender, age and education of tourists, contribute significantly to food and beverages consumption.
The authors recognized the importance of gender, age, and education in analyzing food and beverage
consumption as an important component of tourist products. The study makes asignificant conceptual
contribution towards the spatial/economic development for those who are seeking to integrate local food
and beverage into the tourist product.
KEY WORDS: geography, gender, age, education, food consumption, economic development, Belgrade,
Novi Sad
Razlike vporabi hrane vizbrani regiji na podlagi spola, starosti in izobrazbe:
Primer Beograda in Novega Sada
POVZETEK: Danes ima vsak turist svoje posebne razloge za obisk določene regije. Lahko si želi drugačne
vrste turizma, poleg glavnih razlogov pa ga pritegneta zlasti lokalna hrana in pijača. Nekatere lastnosti turistov,
kot so spol, starost in izobrazba, pomembno vplivajo na porabo hrane in pijače. Avtorji so pri analizi porabe
hrane in pijače kot pomembne prvine turističnih proizvodov ugotovili, da imajo spol, starost in izobrazba
pomembno vlogo. Raziskava ponuja pomemben konceptualni prispevek kprostorskemu/gospodarskemu
razvoju tistih ponudnikov, ki poskušajo vsvoje turistične proizvode vključiti lokalno hrano in pijačo.
KLJUČNE BESEDE: geografija, spol, starost, izobrazba, poraba hrane, gospodarski razvoj, Beograd, Novi
Sad
Nikola Darko Vuksanović
Higher education school for management and business communication
vuksanovicnikola85@gmail.com
Dragan Tešanović, Bojana Kalenjuk, Milijanko Portić
University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Science, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management
tesanovic.dragan@gmail.com, bojanakalenjuk@yahoo.com, porticprof@yahoo.com
The paper was submitted for publication on July 3rd, 2017.
Uredništvo je prejelo prispevek 3. julija 2017.
72

Acta geographica Slovenica, 59-2, 2019
73
1 Introduction
Tourists with different cultural and religious backgrounds and socio-demographic characteristics, as well
as with different personality traits related to food and past experience may have different motivations for
the food consumption within aregion. Accordingly, the destination management is now using local food
and beverages through the food culture and as an aesthetic experience for tourists, which causes pleasant
emotions, increases their understanding of local community and culture, satisfies their curiosity about local
community and fulfils tourists’ need to learn about the local culture (Chang, Kivela and Mak 2011).
The purpose of our previous research (Vuksanović et al. 2017) was to examine the differences
between the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of foreign tourists, as determinants, in the
perception of local gastronomy, while in this study authors analyzed gender, age, and education of foreign
tourists in relation to food and beverage consumption as an important component of tourist product. The
research was done in two cities, but authors recommend that for future research it would be very useful
to replicate this research in other regions (mountain, spa and other forms of tourism) and cities (Subotica,
Niš, Kragujevac) across the Republic of Serbia.
The scale used in previous research (Vuksanović et al. 2017) referred to local gastronomy and includ-
ed three aspects (according to Jalis et al.2009; Qing-Chi et al. 2013) of food distinctiveness and accessibility,
food diversity and enjoyment, and food quality and presentation. The work of Vuksanović et al. (2017)
leaves aroom for new research, for example, examining whether gender, age and education of foreign tourists
have an impact on food and beverages consumption within aregion. The results of previous studies (Mak
et al.2012; Kim, Eves and Scarles 2009) highlighted that socio-demographic characteristics of tourists (gen-
der, age and education) are important factor in measuring food consumption.
From the aspect of geography, food is the field of human geography. Geography deals with spatial process-
es in human and physical environments. Such processes have an impact on food, and they can be viewed
through multiple geographical disciplines (physical, social, medical and economic geography) (Gillespie 2001).
Geographers dealing with physical, economic, social, urban, rural, cultural, medical and agricultural geog-
raphy have their own views on the analysis of the food system. They analyze the production, consumption,
supply and distribution of food from the local to the global level (Atkins and Bowler 2001).
Figure 1: Serbian cuisine.
MIHAILO bERČEK, TOP SRbIJA

Nikola Darko Vuksanović, Dragan Tešanović, Bojana Kalenjuk, Milijanko Portić, Gender, age and education differences …
In previous studies (Buller 2014; McDonagh 2014; Tornaghi 2014; Woods 2012), many authors have
dealt with research on food geographies, and other disciplinary discussions around food. Previous research
(Brice 2014; Dudley 2011; Poe et al.2014; Yeh and Lama 2013), pointed out that interconnection between
space and identity is interrogated through the production and consumption of food, food places and through
the broader political-economies of food ecologies and practices.
Mak et al.(2012) identified five main socio-cultural and psychological factors of tourist food consumption
(motivational factors, religious and cultural influences, food-related personality traits, exposure and past
experience, and socio-demographic factors). They claimed that these five factors are interconnected and
that socio-demographic effects are just as important as other factors that affect the tourist’s tendency toward
food consumption.
Alarge number of studies show that food can be amajor or one of the main motivators for traveling
to adestination (Hall and Mitchell 2005; Long 2004; Mak et al.2012; Hjalager and Richards 2002). In addi-
tion, Kivela and Crotts (2006) emphasized that food as amain motivation for travel is avalid construct
and that food plays an important role that affects the overall tourism experience. Currently, the religion
is considered to be avery important determinant affecting food selection and consumption (Sheldon and
Fox 1988) while the culture is amajor determinant that affects type of food that aperson considers accept-
able for consumption (Prescott et al. 2002). Kim, Eves and Scarles (2009) pointed out that food-related
personality traits and past experience (the exposure effect) can be determinants which influence food con-
sumption. At the same time, socio-demographic characteristics of an individual can be adeterminant that
affects food consumption.
In the field of tourism and hospitality research, several studies (Ignatov and Smith 2006; Kim, Eves
and Scarles 2009; Khan 1981; Mitchell and Hall 2003) indicated that tourists’ demographic and socio-eco-
nomic characteristics influence their preferences towards local food. Some studies (Furst et al. 1996; Khan
1981; Randall and Sanjur 1981) related to food consumption recognized socio-demographic characteris-
tics as significant variables in explaining variations in food consumption. Franklin and Crang (2001) indicated
that demographic variables significantly influence choices for aregion. In other way, studies that used sociode-
mographic variables assume that these variables are oversized (Schofield and Thompson 2007; Huh, Uysal
and McCleary 2006) – i.e. they pointed out that gender and age are the least significant differentiating vari-
ables for the motivation dimensions.
Previous studies showed that female respondents, as compared to male, are more interested in and more
excited about degustation of local food when they are on vacation (Kim, Eves and Scarles 2009; Ignatov
and Smith 2006) and that they are more price sensitive and ready to taste new or unusual fruit and veg-
etables (Mitchell and Hall 2003). Thus, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H1 – There are statistically significant differences between male and female foreign tourists in relation to
food and beverage consumption within aregion.
In the field of tourism and hospitality research, the consumption of food is narrowed for elder respon-
dents (Tse and Crotts 2005) and that they are more health concerned (Kim, Eves and Scarles 2009), while
Olsen (2003) quotes that older tourists can be positively oriented towards consumption of sea food. Based
on the above-mentioned findings, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H2 – There are statistically significant differences among foreign tourists of different age groups in rela-
tion to food and beverage consumption within aregion.
Acommon agreement among researchers is that the respondents with higher education level are more
health concerned (Kim, Eves and Scarles 2009), that higher education level increases food related sensa-
tion (Glanz et al. 1998) and that the respondents with higher education level have more tendencies towards
local food consumption (Zeppel and Hall 1991). Wadolowska, Babicz-Zielinska and Czarnocinska (2008)
pointed out that the respondents with primary education have anegative or neutral perception of food.
Considering the results of earlier research, this study has the following hypothesis:
H3 – There are statistically significant differences among foreign tourists of different level of education
in relation to food and beverage consumption within aregion.
This study will focus on foreign tourists who visited Belgrade and Novi Sad (the Republic of Serbia).
At the same time, the purpose of this paper was to examine the differences between the gender, age and
education of foreign tourists and the cities in relation to food and beverages consumption within aregion
as an important component of tourist product.
74

2 Methods
Fieldwork for this study was carried out in Belgrade and Novi Sad in the Republic of Serbia. Both cities
are the administrative, economic, political and cultural centres (Garača, Jovanović and Zakić 2011). Belgrade
is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkan
Peninsula, while Novi Sad is located in the south of the Pannonian Plain. With their history, cultural assets
and high quality accommodation facilities, Belgrade and Novi Sad host many domestic and internation-
al events (Internet 1; Internet 2). Thus, they are mostly considered cultural regions (Garača, Jovanović and
Zakić 2011). Along with acultural heritage deeply rooted in history, the cities offer opportunities for their
visitors to taste the unique delicacies of local cuisine in the traditional restaurants scattered across the cities.
Large number of restaurants allowed researchers to reach agreat number of tourists and that was one of
the main reasons for their selection.
The survey was conducted on-site at casual local eateries (e.g. restoran domaće kuhinje) and fine din-
ing restaurants located in the streets Skadarlija (Belgrade) and Zmaj Jovina (Novi Sad). These two streets
have nearly 50 restaurants with local cuisine and therefore they are mostly visited by foreign tourists (Internet 3;
Internet 4).According to the data obtained from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (Internet 5),
Belgrade and Novi Sad were visited mostly during these two months and in the last ten years. Ateam of
ten researchers – previously trained graduated gastronomy and marketing students – undertook the sur-
vey during different days of the week (usually during afternoon and in the evening), over aperiod of two
months (June–July, 2016). During the survey period, 1000 questionnaires were distributed, and 674 usable
questionnaires were returned (usable response rate = 67.4%).In Table 1 presents design of the sample which
includes information about sample and population, sampling error and confidence level.
Table 1: The sample design research data.
Collection method Self-administrated questionnaire
Sampling unit Tourist over 18 years of age; tasted food and beverage during
his/her stay in Belgrade and Novi Sad (the Republic of Serbia)
Population size 455.957 per year
Sample Type Simple random sample
Belgrade Novi Sad
Confidence level 95% 99%
Sampling error 3.8% 5%
The questionnaire was composed of three parts. The first part of the questionnaire was an agreement
of respondents to fill in the questionnaire. The questionnaire was anonymous. The second part referred
to demographic and socio-economic characteristics of respondents: gender, age, education, occupation,
reason for visiting the region and country of tourist’s origin. The last part contained alist of eight food
and beverage attributes compiled based on previous studies (Qing-Chi et al. 2013; Verbeke and Lopez 2005).
Earlier studies (Baloglu and McCleary 1999) have indicated that the term »local food« contributes to the
popularity of region and tourist consumption of food. The answers were measured by using the Likert scale,
as follows: 1 – Strongly disagree, 2 – Disagree, 3 – Neutral, 4 – Agree, 5 – Strongly agree.
3 Results
3.1 Characteristics of the respondents
The demographic profile of the respondents is summarized in Table 2. The study included 674 respon-
dents of which 332 were in Novi Sad and 342 in Belgrade. Out of the total number of respondents, 51.3%
were male and 48.7% female. Almost half of the respondents are younger people, 18 to 30 years of age.
Acta geographica Slovenica, 59-2, 2019
75

Nikola Darko Vuksanović, Dragan Tešanović, Bojana Kalenjuk, Milijanko Portić, Gender, age and education differences …
In Table 3 is shown descriptive analysis of the scale items for food and beverages consumption. The
scale is operationalized as the sum of responses to all items from the third part of the questionnaire. Ahigher
score indicates better attitude towards of food and beverages consumption.
Based on the values presented in Table 4, it can be concluded that the answers of respondents at the
food and beverages consumption scale do not deviate significantly as compared to anormal distribution.
In this research, reliability coefficients expressed in Cronbach alpha are 0.82.
76
Table 2: Respondents’ demographic data (n= 674).
Variables Sample size Share Variables Sample size Share
Gender Occupation
Male 346 51.3% Unemployed 43 6%
Female 328 48.7% Retired 24 4%
Employed 489 72.5%
Student 118 17.5%
Age Reason for visit
18–30 316 47% Vacation 175 26%
31–40 167 25% Business purposes 140 21%
41–50 95 14.5% Shopping 98 14.9%
51–60 72 10.5% Visiting friends 100 15.1%
over 60 24 3% Food and culture 37 5%
Other 124 18%
Education Region
Primary Education 117 16.9% Ex-Yugoslavian countries 306 46%
Secondary Education 232 34% West Europe 272 40%
Higher education 120 18.1% South Europe 47 6.9%
Master’s degree 111 15.5% East Europe 49 7.1%
Doctor’s degree 94 12.5%
Table 3: Descriptive statistics of items used for research of food and beverages consumption.
Scale Novi Sad Belgrade
Мean Standard Deviation Мean Standard Deviation
1. Most of local food and beverages stimulated my appetite. 4.49 0.752 4.41 0.878
2. I didn’t mind eating local food and drinking beverages at any time. 4.34 1.02 4.16 1.05
3. I enjoyed most local food and beverages during my vacation. 4.56 0.70 4.55 0.78
4. I spent a lot on local food and beverages during my vacation. 4.06 1.04 4.03 1.11
5. I had local food and beverages just for the sake of tasting it. 3.74 1.27 3.61 1.29
6. I consumed just those local food and beverages that I was familiar with. 3.19 1.30 3.23 1.43
7. The taste and look of most local food and beverages are of the same 3.44 1.15 3.39 1.18
taste wherever I consumed them.
8. I only consumed local food and beverages for a few days during 3.41 1.31 3.20 1.41
my vacation.
Table 4: Descriptive scale indicators.
Scale Min Max М SD Skew. Kurt. К-S α
Food and beverages consumption 19.00 50.00 39.99 5.09 0.625 1.066 0.292* 0.82
Note: *p < 0.1: Min. – minimal score; Max. – maximal score; M – arithmetic mean; SD – standard deviation; Skew. – Skewness; Kurt. – Kurtosis;
К-S – Kolmogorov–Smirnov statistics; α– scale reliability measured by internal consistency.

3.2 Differences between the cities
The results of T–test for independent samples indicate asignificant difference between tourists who vis-
ited Novi Sad (М=40.33, SD= 4.88) and those who visited Belgrade (М=39.64, SD= 5.28). The value of
T–test is 1.83, and it is statistically significant (p< 0.05). The results show that foreign tourists who visit-
ed Novi Sad consumed aslightly more food and beverages in relation to tourists who visited Belgrade.
3.3 Differences between gender, age and education in food and beverages consumption
The results indicate that there are differences between the variables gender, age and education (Table 5).
Differences between groups were analysed by ANOVA, with the independent variables: gender, age and
education, and the dependent variables are food and beverages consumption.
Acta geographica Slovenica, 59-2, 2019
77
Table 5: ANOVA analysis for gender, age and education in food and beverages consumption.
Variables Interaction/city Main effects of socio-demographic Main effect of city
Gender F(3, 669) = 3.04, p < 0.03, η2p= 0.03 F (1,669) = 3.04, p < 0.01, η2p= 0.02 F (1,669) = 4.82, p < 0.03, η2p= 0.01
Age F (4,662) = 4.61, p <0.05, η2p= 0.01 F (1,662) = 1.93, p < 0.02,η2p= 0.02 F(4, 662) = 5.58, p <0.00, η2p= 0.02
Education F(4, 662) = 3.04, p < 0.02, η2p= 0.02 F(4, 662) = 1,97, p < 0.09 F(1, 662) = 18.26, p = 0.00, η2p= 0.02
Note: *p < 0.5: post hock tests (Tukey’s HSD).
4 Discussion
The findings show that there are differences between men and women when it comes to food and bever-
ages consumption. Male tourists from Novi Sad show atendency towards amore positive attitude towards
of food and beverages consumption, compared to other groups of respondents from Belgrade. However,
the differences can be explained by physiological characteristics between man and women where man are
more likely attracted with large portions and selection of meat dishes in relation to women. Also, one of
the explanations can be that food choices are based on an individual level and their association with the
aspects socio-economic factors (Kim, Eves and Scarles 2009; Khan 1981; Ignatov and Smith 2006; Mitchell
and Hall 2003). Therefore, the hypothesis 1 has been confirmed. At one side, these differences between
genders, mentioned above, are good indicators that can be used as abenchmark with previous results and
be of use to marketing professionals to further enhance the offer on the region. On the other side, restau-
rant managers need to reduce the gender gap by applying different strategies, that will be focused on
promotion– for example: special menu (both for men and women), the size of portions and different type
of meals (vegetarian, vegan).
The results indicate that there is difference between respondents depending to which age group they
belong. There is asignificant difference between respondents from the category of 18–30 years of age and
the respondents who fall into the category 51–60 years of age. Further on, the same test shows that there
is adifference between respondents who are 31–40 years of age and the respondents who are 41–50 years
of age, as well as in relation to respondents who fall in the category between 51–60 years of age. More pre-
cisely, respondents who belong to elderly category (51–60 years of age), more positive attitude towards
food and beverages, which is in accordance with previous research (Kim, Eves and Scarles 2009; Tse and
Crotts 2005; Olsen 2003). Therefore, the hypothesis 2 has been confirmed. Professionals from marketing
and hospitality industry need to be familiar with differences between age groups in order to be able to form
different offers for different age groups. For example, for the age group from 51 to 60, ameal offered to
them can be formed so to satisfy their dietary needs (for example, low salt, low calories, allergen info) while
for the age group from 18 to 30, an affordable price can be used in promotion.
The results indicate that there are differences between people with different education level when it
comes to food and beverages consumption. The results show that respondents who visited Novi Sad and

Nikola Darko Vuksanović, Dragan Tešanović, Bojana Kalenjuk, Milijanko Portić, Gender, age and education differences …
have master’s degree differ from respondents who visited the same city but have higher education or pri-
mary education. Also, it is indicated that the same respondents differ from all other categories that visited
Belgrade – from those who have completed secondary education, who have higher education, primary
education, as well as from those respondents who have completed PhD. Possible differences between the
groups of respondents for the variable education (respondents with university education gave more pos-
itive attitude towards of food and beverages consumption), can be explained with the fact that they were
probably more informed about local food before they travelled to aregion. To be more precise, the respon-
dents who visited Novi Sad and have completed master’s degree spend much more money on the food and
beverage as compared to other respondents, irrespective of the city. Earlier studies (Zeppel and Hall 1991;
Glanz et al.1998) have confirmed that the respondents with higher level of education (university’ degree)
have more tendencies towards consumption of local food, which is in accordance with the obtained results
in this research. These differences can be explained by the fact that highly educated respondents do not
see local cuisine just as away of appeasing hunger, but also as amedium to experience the region (Kim,
Eves and Scarles 2009; Wadolowska, Babicz-Zielinska and Czarnocinska 2008). Therefore, the hypothe-
sis 3 has been confirmed. Based on the results, restaurant managers need to pay more attention when comes
to reservations from special group (like proffesors from University), as it turned out that consumption dif-
fers in relation to education. For example, respondents with ahigher level of education are more willing
to try food and beverages, and it is necessary to provide adifferent supply of food and beverages for them.
The offer can contain an equal choice of domestic and international dishes and different sizes of portions.
In addition, the promotion of food and beverages can be directed to aspecific educated group. For exam-
ple, tourists with ahigher level of education may be offered with certain type of meals (e.g. with specific
dietary needs) because previous researches (Kim, Eves and Scarles 2009; Tse and Crotts 2005) have shown
that they are more concerned about health.
From apractical point of view, this study provides valuable information for tourism and hospitality
managers. Although tourists have expressed positive attitude on food and beverage, it is necessary to improve
the efficiency of regulatory institutions, including the Food Safety Agency and the Nacional tourist orga-
nization of the Republic of Serbia. In accordance to that, the responsible goverment bodies should monitor
the work of tourist companies at all levels. Monitoring is necessary in order to avoid and prevent inap-
propriate enterprise behaviour, to publish information related to local cuisine and to solve tourists’ complaints.
Also, monitoring reduces tourist dissatisfaction and improves positive evaluation of local cuisine perception.
At the same time, this can increase the overall satisfaction of tourists with chosen destinations.
5 Conclusion
The study advances literature on the use of tourists’ socio-demographic characteristics in region, by exam-
ining the attitude towards food and beverage consumption in the spatial geographical context. The results
indicate that gender, age and education within aregion are an important antecedent of tourist consump-
tion and an important component of the tourist products.
This study provides valuable insight to practitioners who are seeking to integrate local food and bev-
erage into the tourist product and how to improve acceptability to foreign tourists. In addition, this research
makes it possible for the sectors of economy and government to understand better the significance of food
and beverages consumption as part of the region, and towards the spatial/economic development.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: The study resulted as apart of project of Provincial Secretariat for Higher Education
and Scientific Research, no. 142-451-2669 /2017-01 /02 (Agricultural, food and gastronomic products in
the function of development of Vojvodina tourism directed towards authentic and safe food).
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