Clemson University

"The subject matter of this dissertation is food tourism or tourists' participation in food related activities at a destination to experience its culinary attributes. In addition, the culinary tourist or the tourist for whom food tourism is an important, if not primary, reason influencing his travel behavior, is its focus.

"This thesis contains a collection of essays related to economics and sports. The final essay looks at the growing controversy of publicly funded sports stadiums. Local governments are spending millions of dollars on sports stadiums as a means to spur economic development. Economic impact studies supporting public funding claim that the investment will bring thousands of jobs and additional revenue to the local community. Most of the academic literature on the subject has been less favorable. Much of the literature focused on broad measures of employment in metropolitan statistical areas.