Abstract:

Today, the increase in travel for various reasons, the region’s tourism is developing, the tourism awareness is spread to the people of the region, and the visitors are also giving different experiences. In these tourist activities, the consumption of food and beverage is not a repetition of daily eating and drinking habits, but a attractive experience that covers the taste of different and unprecedented flavours. A highly satisfied holiday experience has a positive impact on tourists’ perception of the destination and can also be effective in the intention to visit again. The objective of this study is to explore in tourists who participate in tourist activities with different motivations, how the taste of food and beverages in the visited area creates an insight, and to show the role of local foods in the choice of destination. The sample of the study consists of 390 visitors selected among tourists who visit Adana, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Hatay, Mardin and Shanlıurfa provinces for different purposes. In the research, the survey technique was used from quantum data collection methods. The analysis of data used absolute and percentage factor analysis, simple regression and multiple regression analysis. More than half of the visitors involved in the research range are aged 18-44 years, having pre-literary and bachelor's education. 84% of visitors said they had visited the destination they were before. Based on the simple regression analysis, local foods have a significant positive effect on the destination image.

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