A Study on The Street Food Preference of Foreign Tourists in Mauritius : Impacts and Implications for Tourism Marketing

This study was conducted to investigate street food preferences of foreign tourists in Mauritius and understand their purchase behavior while choosing street food. The methodology utilized for this study was a mixed approach. The data collection was done from 290 foreign tourists at the different coastal regions in Mauritius namely Flic en Flac, Blue Bay , Grand Baie , Belle Mare and Riviere Noire. This study involved location intercept technique through face to face interviews and filling of structured questionnaire for taking the answers. The street food preference of the tourists was therefore analysed using Analytical Hierarchical Process Model and cross tabulation. The findings show tourists usually prefer street foods that have a good taste , rapid in production and hygienically processed. It was discovered that among all the street food proposed and which are being sold on the different coastal regions of Mauritius, it was found that they prefer boulettes and barbecue(grilled chicken) as well as Chinese cuisine that is noodles. This study recommends that Mauritian street foods presents a huge market for the foreign tourists that needs to be nurtured. To pursue the tourist’s interest,it has been seen that it can be done by providing alternative ways in selling the food and food disposal as well as nutritional information, and improving sanitary conditions and water supply of the vending site. This study brings some impact in that it attempts to explore tourists’ street food preference and might probably help in maximising the inflow of foreign tourists, as the word street food is gaining importance nowadays.