The Role of Commemorative Coins in Marketing of Gastronomy Themed Imaginative Towns: A Case Study of Gastronomy City Afyonkarahisar Turkey

Abstract

The goal of this study to identify the gastronomy cities that have commemorative coins printed on the gastronomy theme of the city as a creative idea to increase the marketing and awareness of the cities included with the "Gastronomy" theme in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, and to investigate their contribution to the marketing of the gastronomy city. In addition, it is aimed to reveal the contribution of gastronomy cities to employment, the expectations from the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and the impact of gastronomy cities on tourist demands. In this study, a questionnaire sent to the managers of gastronomy cities and a qualitative study was carried out by making use of the gastronomy cities web page and internet browsing in general. It has been observed that the only gastronomy city that prints gastronomy-themed commemorative coins as a contribution to the marketing of cities is "Afyonkarahisar, Turkey". However, it is clear that the number of tourists in cities announced on the UNESCO Creative Cities Network increases, and this contributes to the employment, while local producers are supported and as the city is an attractive one with its increasing recognition and brand value and its presence in the national and international media, this makes it a source of pride for local actors, stakeholders, and citizens. However, “Gastronomic Cities” have great expectations from the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for publicizing their cities to more international platforms. It is important to remember that the UNESCO Creative Cities Network does not have such a purpose.