GASTRONOMY AS A HOSPITALITY VECTOR: EVALUATION OF INTEGRATED EXPERIENCES IN RESTAURANTS IN TOURIST DESTINATIONS

This study aims to identify and analyze how combinations of gastronomic practices, service interactions, environmental ambience, and expectation alignment shape integrated hospitality experiences in restaurants located in tourist destinations. By exploring the configurational dynamics of hospitableness, the study seeks to understand which causal pathways lead to positive,neutral, or negative visitor perceptions.A qualitative and configurational design was adopted, integrating interviews, non-participant observation, and document analysis. Qualitative data were coded using MAXQDA and subsequently analyzed through crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA), enabling the identification of equifinal causal configurations. The methodological procedures followed established guidelines for set-theoretic inference, ensuring transparency, consistency, and empirical grounding.The results reveal three equifinal pathways leading to high hospitality perceptions: (1) the combination of gastronomic authenticity and coherent ambience; (2) the synergy between emotionally engaging service interactions and expectation alignment; and (3) the joint effect of ambience and service quality. Configurations leading to low hospitality included the absence of ambience combined with expectation misalignment, and the simultaneous lack of gastronomic authenticity and positive service interactions. These findings reinforce the multidimensional, relational, and conjunctural nature of hospitality in gastronomic settings.