Gastronomy Tourism: An Empirical Study on Domestic Tourists in Ayvalık

Abstract

In this study, in the context of the relationship between gastronomy and tourism has been
determined the perceptions about local cuisine of domestic tourists visiting Ayvalık.
Research data were collected by the survey method. In research practiced on 375 domestic
tourists was detected that participants mostly are included in the middle age group, usually
are worked in a private company and mainly are in the middle-income. With the majority
of participants visited for first time the Ayvalık region, when mentioned Ayvalık the first
detected elements have been identified 'Cunda, Street and Old Stone Houses' and 'Fish and
Seafood'. However, it was determined that almost half of the participants don’t have
knowledge about local cuisine before visiting Ayvalık.