The Role of Local Food in Maldives Tourism - Scholarly Commons ...

Table 5. 3 Frequency of images in printed and web materials
IMAGES FREQUENCY
Categories
Printed
Materials
93
Websites Total
1. Local food and beverage staff 25 11 36
2. Local food 28 1 29
3. Local fruits/vegetables 8 5 13
4. Local market 8 - 8
5. Tourists with local food 4 - 4
6. Locals with food 2 - 2
7. Other food 28 21 49
8. Restaurant/bar 13 13 26
9. Tourists with other food 13 6 19
10. Restaurant/bar with people 2 15 17
11. Table setting 4 9 13
12. Foreign food and beverage staff 12 - 12
TOTAL 135 81 228
In analysing texts and images content analysis was used. Such analysis enables the
researcher to either:
evaluate the items that appear to be theoretically important and
meaningful and relate them to the central question of study or relate
the meaning of parts of the text to the whole document and the general
thinking of the author and develop relevant hypothesis. (Danner, 1979
in Sarantakos 1998, p. 284).
One of the most frequently portrayed images of food in the marketing materials is fruit.
It was also the most common image of local food. However, these images were mostly
used as displays and decorations and (Figure 5.1). For example, a papaya in a basket of
fruits including grapes, apples and oranges as in Figure 5.2 cannot be said to represent
local food, because apart from the papaya, the rest of the fruits are imported and are not
produced in the Maldives. This paper follows Handszuh (2000) in defining local food