This study aims to explore the positive psychological effects of culinary experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown days. Qualitative research methods adopted to provide a deeper understanding. Data was collected through a structured online survey from 30 participants in Turkey. This occurred between April 10th and June 3rd, 2020 when the strict confinement measures were applied. Content analysis was deductively applied according to the Stebbins’s Theory of Casual vs. Serious Leisure which classifies the well-being according to characteristics of leisure experiences. The results revealed that at the first stage people went into the kitchen with the motivation of pure happiness and relaxation indicating hedonic well-being. However, people who intended to spend time with culinary activities with the expectations of pure happiness left the kitchen with eudaimonic outcomes by gaining special skills and knowledge, self-actualization and self-enrichment. When these outcomes are evaluated based on the Stebbins’s theoretical framework, culinary activities have both casual and serious leisure experience characteristics in terms of psychological well-being. It is understood that culinary activities have versatile leisure characteristics. Thanks to the culinary activities, people do not only obtain pure happiness and relaxation but can draw wider inferences about their life by realizing their own potential during the psychologically challenging COVID-19 lockdown days.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), tourism sector ranks high in terms of her contribution to economic growth and employment opportunity generation in most economies. Several studies have been documented in the extant literature on the nexus between emission, tourism, and economic growth. However, the role of foreign direct investment that highlights either pollution haven or halo hypothesis and pivotal role of domestic credit to private sector in an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) environment is lacking in the extant literature. To this end, this study used augmented mean group (AMG) and method of moment quantile regression (MM-QR) approaches to explore the nexus between per capital income and its square, tourism, foreign direct investment, domestic credit to private sector and CO 2 emission. Empirical results show that tourism had a negative significant relationship with CO 2 emission. Furthermore, income on the other hand had positive relationship with emissions while its square had negative relationship with emissions. This result also shows the presence of EKC indicating the inverted U-shaped curve. FDI has shown a positive significant relationship with pollution which indicates the pollutant haven hypothesis (PHH), and credit to private sector shows a positive relationship with CO 2 emission. On the causality analysis from Dumitrescu and Hurlin panel causality test, there was a bi-directional causality between: tourism and CO 2 emission, per capital income and CO 2 emission as well as domestic credit and CO 2 emission. From these outcomes, it shows that tourism development is not detrimental to environmental quality in the Mediterranean region investigated. However, there is need for caution on FDI influx and dirty economic activities that might compromise environmental quality in the study bloc.

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The aim of this research is to determine the effect of brand image, perceived quality, brand awareness and brand loyalty components on the travel intention which constitutes gastronomic brand value. Within the scope of the research, questionnaires were applied to local tourists in Adana, Mersin and Hatay, who stand out with their culinary culture and gastronomy resources. According to correlation analysis, the brand size that has the strongest relationship with travel intention was brand loyalty for Adana province (.738), brand awareness size for Mersin (.666) and brand loyalty size for Hatay (.757). Brand loyalty, brand awareness and brand image dimensions have a positive effect on travel intention for Adana and Mersin provinces. For the province of Hatay, it was determined that only the brand loyalty dimension had a positive effect on travel intention.

Global warming has become the main concern in the present world. This research takes a comprehensive look at the interconnections between tourism, gross domestic product (GDP), renewable energy, fossil fuels, education, trade, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the Arab Peninsula. Including these variables, the research also checks the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis by analyzing the top 10 tourist destinations from 1997 to 2019. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, Lebanon, and Egypt round out the top 10 countries in Arab in terms of tourist arrivals. The paper uses a novel augmented mean group (AMG) model to explore the problems of slope heterogeneity (SH), cross-sectional dependence (CSD), and the combination of level and first-difference stationery. An association between these variables over time can be discovered using the Westerlund cointegration method. To certify the accuracy of the findings, the research used both the mean group (MG) and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG). According to the research, the EKC does not exist in the most popular Middle Eastern travel destinations. This basically means that as money grows, environmental conditions will deteriorate. The findings show that tourism can help reduce environmental harm there. Indicators such as rising populations, increased energy consumption, and thriving economies all influence the rise of the environmental degradation level. Trade will also increase environmental deterioration. The only things that will help reduce CO2 emissions are tourism and renewable energy. Therefore, the MG and CCEMG results corroborate the AMG findings. Governments may push for the widespread use of refillable energy sources and the development of ecotourism. Therefore, policymakers in this country should rethink their tourism strategies and adopt one that places a premium on renewable energy sources and environmental protection.

Bu çalışmada 2007:1-2022:1 donemi verileri ve ARDL yaklaşımı kullanılarak Türkiye’de tüketici kredilerinin cari denge üzerindeki etkileri incelenmektedir. Bu kapsamda öncelikle toplam tüketici kredilerinin etkisi ele alınmaktadır. Daha sonra tüketici kredilerinin bileşenleri olan konut, taşıt ve ihtiyaç kredilerinin cari denge üzerindeki etkileri önce ayrı ayrı sonra aynı model kapsamında analiz edilmektedir. Tahmin sonuçları tüm modellerde ilgili değişkenler arasında bir eşbütünleşme ilişkisi olduğuna işaret etmektedir. Buna karşın toplam tüketici kredilerinin cari açık üzerinde anlamlı bir etkisinin olmadığı görülmektedir. Benzer şekilde modele ayrı ayrı dahil edildiklerinde konut, taşıt ve ihtiyaç kredilerinin uzun dönemde cari denge üzerinde anlamlı bir etkide bulunmadıkları anlaşılmaktadır. Diğer yandan konut, taşıt ve ihtiyaç kredilerinin birlikte yer aldığı model tahminlerine göre taşıt ve konut kredilerinin cari dengeyi etkilediği sonucuna varılmaktadır. Buna göre taşıt ve konut kredilerindeki artış cari dengede bozulmaya yol açmaktadır. Ayrıca, tahmin sonuçlarımız ikiz açıklar hipotezinin incelenen dönemde geçerli olduğunu, ekonomik büyümede bir artışın cari dengeyi olumsuz etkilediğini göstermektedir. Son olarak bazı tahminlerde reel döviz kurundaki değişikliklerin cari denge üzerinde anlamlı bir etkide bulunduğu görülmektedir.

Using System Generalized Method of Moments and data for 23 deposit banks over the period 2002-2020 this study aims to investigate the bank-specific and macroeconomic determinants of non-performing loans in Turkey. For a well-functioning banking system, it is important to understand the empirical determinants of non-performing loans. In this context, we particularly focus on the effects of global financial crisis, Covid-19 pandemic, and bank ownership structure on non-performing loans. To provide additional insights, we divide our sample into two as the pre-crisis and post-crisis periods. Our results indicate that both bank-specific and macroeconomic factors play a significant role in explaining the non-performing loans. Moreover, we find a negative impact of Covid-19 pandemic while there is no evidence for any significant impact of the last global financial crisis. More interesting is to note that bank ownership structure does not exert any significant effect on non-performing loans. Furthermore, the determinants of non-performing loans greatly differ in pre-crisis and post-crisis periods. We think that a sound banking and financial system would play a decisive role for allocating financial resources and thus supporting macroeconomic stability.

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