THE ROLE OF NASI AMBENG IN GASTRONOMIC TOURISM: EXAMINING BEHAVIOURAL INTENTIONS OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Gastronomic tourism plays an important role in preserving cultural heritage, with traditional food acting as an essential component of a destination’s identity and traditions. However, existing studies mainly describe Nasi Ambeng’s heritage and preservation, leaving limited understanding of young domestic tourists’ behavioural intentions to travel specifically to experience Nasi Ambeng as a gastronomic tourism attraction. Guided by the conceptual framework of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, this study develops a predictor model to evaluate how food knowledge, cultural identity, and social media exposure shape the behavioural intentions of university students, who represent a key segment of young domestic tourists, towards Nasi Ambeng as a Malaysian gastronomic tourism attraction. Using a quantitative research approach, data were gathered from 365 university students, employing purposive sampling to ensure all participants satisfied the study’s predefined inclusion criteria. The findings revealed that food knowledge and social media exposure have significant positive effects on young domestic tourists’ behavioural intentions, with social media exposure showing the strongest influence. In contrast, cultural identity was insignificant, suggesting that cultural attachment may not necessarily translate into the intention to engage in gastronomic tourism within a relatively homogeneous domestic context. Therefore, these findings provide useful insights for tourism authorities, destination marketers, and culinary stakeholders in developing appropriate strategies and policies that can strengthen the role of traditional food as a sustainable gastronomic tourism attraction.