Investigating the Tourism Experience of Thai Cooking Classes: An application of Larsen’s three-stage model

Cooking classes have emerged as popular activities for international tourists seeking to learn and participate in Thai culinary culture. Applying Larsen’s psychological three-stage model for understanding the tourism experience, this study identifies motivational and experiential factors of tourists’ participation in cooking classes, and their subsequent behavioral intentions. Drawing on functional motivational theory and Pine and Gilmore’s experience economy concept, a quantitative instrument is developed to survey 300 tourist participants in cooking classes in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Results suggest that the top-most motivational factor for participation in cooking classes is socioutilitarian needs—a combination of social and utilitarian items, whereas the top-most experiential factor is “Ent-escapist”—a combination of Pine and Gilmore’s entertainment and escapist realms. The results indicate that both the motivational and the experiential facets of cooking clases are influenced by a combination of factors. These findings offer implications for the marketing of cooking class products by destination management organizations.