The Importance of The Functional Foods in Turkish Cuisine in Terms of Gastronomy Tourism

Abstract

Nutrition is not only the primary need for the survival of people, also one of the basic motivations. Nutrition has become a travel goal in an attempt to taste a new dish or to experience different tastes and flavors. The desire of this experience is a factor that contributes to development of tourism sector as a part of gastronomy tourism and stimulates the touristic activities. New world circumstances have made people more aware of the necessity of a healthy diet to live a healthy life. The increasing interest towards healthy foods increased awareness about functionality of foods and make it necessary to develop new activity plans in the service industry. The present review was introduced some functional foods in Turkish cuisine and emphasized their contributions to tourism industry. In this study, literature review is done and a review is prepared. As a result of the literature review, the most common problem is the deficiencies in the promotion of products and marketing activities. These problems in the promotion of local foods prevent functional foods from becoming prominent in the region and adversely affect the recognition and spread of some foods.