Gastronomic Tourism of Türkiye: A Study on the Polish Market

Abstract

Gastronomy is defined as a discipline that studies the preparation, presentation, and consumption of food and beverages within the framework of the relationship between food and culture. Gastronomy tourism focuses on the search for new flavors in new locations to improve one's physical and mental health. Türkiye hosts a wide variety of tourism types and opportunities with its historical texture, natural beauty, and rich cultural pool. Gastronomy tourism is one of these rich tourism opportunities. Türkiye hosts millions of tourists from various countries around the world every year. In 2022, approximately 2.2% of foreign visitors to Türkiye were Polish tourists. This study determined the preferences and opinions of Polish tourists regarding Türkiye's gastronomy tourism market. According to the data obtained, 101 male and 282 female participants indicated that Turkish cuisine and Turkish gastro-tourism have an essential place in the world, gastronomic elements are an important factor in their preference for Türkiye, they find Turkish cuisine predominantly delicious and affordable, döner kebab and Turkish coffee are the most well-known food and beverages from Turkish cuisine, and the participants are planning to revisit Türkiye for gastronomy tourism. As a result of the study, gastro-tourism-oriented recommendations were given to the sector for Turkish cuisine to take a more active role in the country's tourism and for the Polish market to be utilized more effectively.