ABSTRACT

This work assessed the gastronomic tourism potentials of Owerri Metropolis in Imo State as a marketable tourism tool. Six research questions were raised and answered in line with the objective of the study. A hypothesis was formulated and tested at the 0.05 level of significance. The study area included the three LGA; Owerri Municipal, Owerri North and Owerri West with the population of 631, 281 and a sample size of 400 respondents drawn across the 35 community clusters of the three (3) LGAs. Survey research design was adopted for the study. Data collected were analyzed using mean scores derived from 4-point scale and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0. A mean of 2.5 and above were regarded as positive in decision making. The findings showed mean range 2.9 -3.4 for the research questions, which indicate that: numerous unique cuisines exist and numerous selling outlets such as restaurants and food events/festivals also exist. It also showed that there is high patronage of local cuisines by tourists. The overall mean score for the perception of the impact of tourist activities by the local community was greater than 2.5 which showed that it is favourable. Perception of influence of government’s policies on gastronomy activities was positive as the overall mean was greater than 2.5. There is a significant positive relationship between the availability of gastronomy tourism potential in Owerri Metropolis and successful tourism marketing, as the p – value was less than 0.05 ie. Pobtained (0.0001) < 0.05. Based on the findings it was recommended that; there should be creation of awareness of the value of the area’s gastronomic heritage in order to boast the cultural pride, strategies should be set by the government on residents’ participation in the maintenance of the gastronomic heritage of Owerri, the tourism businesses in Owerri should feature gastronomic activities in their facilities, the government should include gastronomy in their tourism product. advanced and comprehensive studies on the individual value of the gastronomic potentials of Owerri, comprehensive studies of the tourism market of Owerri, improvement of tourism related amenities and facilities in Owerri, strategies for marketing Owerri tourism using local cuisines such; as making the food festivals national events through adverts and invites, sales of agricultural products from the area at reduced prices during food festivals, organizing classes for preparation of the local cuisines, amongst others should be employed and the development of a unique gastronomy tourism product with Owerri cuisine.