Guest Experience in Restaurants at a Prime Heritage Destination in the Philippine

Abstract

Food is considered an inseparable part of cultural and heritage tourism. It is an important aspect that is beneficial for the community’s economic sustainability and the social life of tourists, visitors, and usual diners. This descriptive research aimed to determine the assessment of diners on the components of their guest experience at restaurants in a prime heritage destination in Manila. It explored food as a destination attraction of the heritage site. The researchers gathered the responses of 75 guest diners at selected restaurants in the heritage destination using a questionnaire that measured their satisfaction on three components of guest experience, namely: service product, service environment, and service delivery system. The guests’ satisfaction on the restaurants’ services played a significant role in their revisit and recommendation intentions. Findings revealed that guest food service preferences are casual dining, fine dining, and banchetto (feast) dining experiences. Among the recommendations is the incorporation of cultural shows as part of the dining experience as indicated by their preferred food tourism activities at the heritage site.