Visitor Satisfaction and Loyalty Measurement of a Local Food Festival : Application of FESTPERF Scale

The purpose of this paper is to explore variables and dimensions of festival quality that have significant impact on visitor satisfaction and future behavioral intentions. These issues are addressed within the context of the annual food festival “14th Festival of Asparagus” held in Lovran, locally known for its seasonal gastronomic offer. To test the FESTPERF scale, a 28-item questionnaire was constructed on conceptual frameworks developed by past research (Yoon et al., 2010; Anil, 2012). In total, 400 questionnaires were distributed and 155 returned, of which 10 were incomplete and omitted from the analysis. In order to achieve the study goals, descriptive and factor analysis was performed. The results of factor and reliability analysis indicate inner consistency of the five extracted factors and the high reliability of the FESTPERF scale. The FESTPERF scale, tested in this study, is suitable for use in local food festivals in gaining easily interpretable and reliable data. The study makes an important contribution to the limited festival service quality, satisfaction and loyalty measurement literature. The study also makes a contribution to practice through the development of the FESTPERF scale for the visitor satisfaction and loyalty measurement of a local food festival which can be used by destination managers to enhance understanding of visitor festival satisfaction and loyalty in the context of a small local food festival