Why Tourists Consumed Local Food in Bali During the Pandemic: A motivation-based Segmentation Study

Local food is a tourism resource that can be leveraged for marketing purposes, such as destination branding. Therefore, understanding tourist motivations for consuming local food could assist the government in developing an effective destination marketing plan. Although Bali is Indonesias most well-known tourist destination, there is currently limited research on what motivates tourists to consume the indigenous local food. The purpose of this study was to investigate tourists� motivations for consuming local food in Bali during covid-19 pandemic and segment them accordingly. The data was collected through an online survey of 518 tourists who visited Bali between October 2021 and February 2022. Seven motivations were discovered as causes utilizing an exploratory factor analysis: cultural, exploration, interaction, emotional, health concern, sharing, and social value. A subsequent cluster analysis divided the respondents into five segments: (1) novelty seekers, who are always seeking for new things to learn; (2) relationship keepers, who enjoy spending time with their relatives; (3) interaction seekers, who enjoy interacting with the people they meet; (4) cultural explorers, who want to learn more about the local culture and (5) collaborative tourists, who share their experiences with others. Due to the numerous distinguishing characteristics among each segment, the government would be able to effectively examine the local food attributes and provide alternative activities and services to tourists