EVENT QUALITY, VISITOR SATISFACTION, AND PERCEIVED BENEFITS OF TERRA MADRE ASIA AND PACIFIC
Keywords:
event quality, visitor satisfaction, perceived benefits, Terra Madre, Slow Food, food festival, event managementAbstract
Terra Madre Asia and Pacific is a large-scale cultural and gastronomic event of the Slow Food movement that brings together food producers, advocates, scholars, and visitors around sustainable food systems and cultural heritage. This study determined the event quality, visitor satisfaction, and perceived benefits of the 2025 event in Bacolod City and examined whether evaluations differed according to age, sex, civil status, and visitor type. It employed a quantitative descriptive-comparative-correlational design. An adapted and modified four-point survey was administered onsite to 400 domestic and international visitors through nonprobability quota sampling; accordingly, the findings are not statistically generalizable to all event visitors. Means and standard deviations described the variables. Mann–Whitney U tests were used for two-group comparisons, Kruskal–Wallis H tests with Dunn post hoc comparisons were used for comparisons involving more than two groups, and Spearman’s rho tested relationships. Event quality was rated very high, with fun, surprise, social, and hedonic aspects receiving the strongest evaluations, while immersion and participation obtained comparatively lower means. Visitor satisfaction was very high in most dimensions, although traffic and information received only a high rating and emerged as the principal service gap. All perceived-benefit dimensions were rated very high, led by socio-cultural exchange and community visibility and image enhancement. Evaluations were generally consistent across demographic groups. Age-related omnibus differences emerged in fun and in community visibility and image enhancement, although no specific pairwise comparison remained significant after Bonferroni adjustment. Event quality was positively related to visitor satisfaction (ρ = .695), perceived benefits (ρ = .552), and visitor satisfaction was positively related to perceived benefits (ρ = .497), all p < .001. The findings support an experience-centered framework emphasizing participatory programming, visitor navigation and information, and youth-responsive destination communication.
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