A gastronomia como fator de influência na escolha de destinações turísticas – base de estudo balneário Camboriú (SC-Brasil)

This paper aims to evaluate the factors related to food that influence tourists to choose a particular destination. The secondary aim is to identify how tourists perceive food in relation to the culture of the destination. Does the tourist see gastronomy as a way to know the local culture? Is this fact significant when choosing a destination? A hypothetical-deductive methodology combined with descriptive statistics, with the application of a survey instrument resulted in 400 structured interviews and questionnaires valid for each year. The survey covered the summers of 2006 and 2011 in the city of Balneário Camboriú, Santa Catarina, Brazil. With the results in hand it was possible to create three group of tourists with singular characteristics related to gastronomy, which allowed the definition of the concepts Gourmet Customer, Appreciation Customer and Food Customer, each with a specific perception of the importance of gastronomy and culture within tourism.