Destinasyon Markalaşmasında Gastronomi Turizminin Rolü: Trabzon İli Üzerine Bir Araştırma

Abstract

Destination branding is becoming increasingly important for countries or regions to differentiate themselves. In recent years, gastronomic tourism, which has become very valuable and has become the center of attention of people, has been playing an important role in the marketing of destinations. In this context, the marketing of gastronomic values that destinations have is very important in terms of destination branding. From this angle the aim of this research is to determine the effect of gastronomy tourism on the branding of Trabzon destination. Quantitative method was adopted in the research and survey technique was preferred in data collection. The prepared questionnaire was applied to the domestic tourists visiting the province of Trabzon on the internet in December 2020 on a web-based. As a result of the analyzes carried out, significant results were obtained that supported a large part of the research hypotheses. In addition, in line with the research findings, it was concluded that Trabzon cuisine has a brand value and that the local gastronomy contributes to the branding of the city. On the other hand, in the research, it was observed that Trabzon is at the forefront with its natural beauties rather than gastronomy and that the visits to Trabzon for gastronomy purposes are quite low.