Gastronomic Elements Used Within the Scope of National Publicity Works: A Research on the Banners of “Home of Turkey” Campaign

Abstract

In the competitive tourism market, nations must go one step further and conduct promotional activities in order to earn more income from the tourism sector. National promotional activities that are conducted in this age, which is called digital age and enables reaching the information anytime and anywhere, offer many opportunities for reaching potential tourists worldwide. Despite great costs, national promotional activities will make important contributions to the national image and marketing activities when they are prepared efficiently and effectively. National promotional activities have been intensely conducted through digital channels in recent years. Based on the importance of social media and digital campaigns in Turkey’s branding process in tourism; the Turkish Republic Ministry of Culture and Tourism has started the campaign of Home: Turkey in 2014. This study qualitatively examines the digital promotional campaign of “Turkey: Home”, which is officially conducted by the Turkish Republic Ministry of Culture and Tourism, touches upon the stages of the campaign, tries to support some points in the process with some statistical data and examines publicity banners that are prominent in the campaign and contain gastronomic elements. As a consequence; it has been determined that the digital campaign of Turkey: Home is sustained successfully and also some gastronomic elements are suggested for the campaign. It is believed that the study will also contribute to the addressee of the issue and to the literature.