The Role of Tourist Motivation in The Evaluation of Turkey's Gastronomy Tourism Supply Resource

Abstract

Depends on the developments in the tourism industry in the last years, gastronomy tourism is also making rapid progress. The fact that it eliminates seasonality, which is one of the important problems especially for tourism activities, and that it is in close relations with the cultural infrastructure of the destinations has an important place in this development. Therefore, destinations give priority to gastronomy in order to reach an advantageous position in the intense competitive environment in the tourism industry. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of destinations in gastronomy tourism can lead them to gain competitive advantage. One of the best ways to do this is for tourists to evaluate the performance of gastronomic tourism supply sources in a destination. In this study, the performance of Turkey's gastronomy supply resources is aimed to evaluate in the context of domestic tourists’ travel motivations. Quantitative research methods were used in the study. Survey was used as data collection tool. 854 surveys were collected from domestic tourists in Turkey to evaluate the performance level of the supply sources of gastronomy tourism in Turkey. According to the results of the study, travel motivation of the tourists has a decisive effect in evaluating the supply sources of gastronomic tourism in Turkey.