Participation of Local Gastrotourists to Gastronomy Events and Activities According to the Education Levels and Age Groups: A Research on Gastrotourists Visiting Gaziantep

Abstract

The aim of this study is to contribute to the knowledge gastronomy tourists, demographics and
behavior issues in the destination. In this context, research, who visited Gaziantep province
scope of domestic gastroturist of the gastronomic tourism, according to the education level and
age group examines its involvement in gastronomy tourism activities in the destination. As a
sample group, the domestic gastronomy tourists visiting Gaziantep consisted of 416 tourists,
who were selected by the convenience sample method. A questionnaire was used for data
collection of the study. Results of the data were evaluated using absolute and percentage
values, factor analysis and variance analysis. According to the results, the level of income is an
important factor for tourist participation in gastronomy tourism activities. It is also specified
that tourists who have high level of income prefer regional and exclusive restaurants and they
are kind of consumers who are interested in regional products and purchase various
gastronomic products.