Gastronomi/Gastronomik, Mutfak ve Yemek Turizmi: Kavramlar Arasında Bir Ayrım ve Tartışma (Gastronomy/Gastronomic, Culinary, and Food Tourism: A Conceptual Distinction and Discussion)

Abstract

The increase in tourism activities has been accompanied by a significant rise in travels focused on culinary culture. With the influence of social media platforms and food television programs featuring world-renowned chefs, restaurants and events, food and food-related travel has become mainstream. In Turkey, especially after 2010, there has been a significant increase in the number of institutions and academics providing education in this field with the growing interest in cooking and gastronomy and culinary arts education. This situation has also contributed to an increase in the number of academic studies in the related field. While it is seen that the majority of the studies published in the TR Index journal list in Turkey are concentrated under the title of “gastronomy tourism” (99%), it has been determined that researchers in the international literature address the title of the study with different titles such as “gastronomy / gastronomic tourism” (29%), “food tourism” (46%) and “culinary tourism” (25%). In this context, the main purpose of the study is to evaluate the contribution of these concepts to the literature by examining the usage areas of these different headings used in foreign literature. The results of the research show that the term “gastronomy tourism” can be widely used in studies on eating and drinking behaviors in general, while the definitions of “culinary tourism” and “food tourism” are more clear, limited and understandable.