Abstract:

Today’s tourists want to experience local products in gastronomy tourism. Geographical labelling, which appears in the EU countries and then spread throughout the world, is one of the most effective methods for living in the gastronomy field. Also, geographical marks are needed to preserve the quality of local products and to be legally certified. Consumers trust the quality of local products registered by the EU. Therefore, it is applying for product registration to the EU from all over the world. It is important for the development of gastronomic tourism to determine which countries are locally concentrated in the EU and which countries are targeted by geographical labels in terms of gastronomy. In this context, the aim of the study is to evaluate the geographical signs in the EU in the gastronomy field by the spatial analysis method. The data of the study was obtained from the eAmbrosia database where the legal record of products registered throughout the EU was kept. The scope of the study consists of geographically marked food products that have been applied to the EU and registered by 1 July 2021. Moran's I and LISA statistics have been used widely for the purpose of testing and measuring spatial self-correlation in data analysis. The study found that the applications for products made to the EU in the gastronomy field and registered products were accumulated in certain regions of Europe. These accumulations appear to be concentrated in the area called the Mediterranean Canyon. The study also determined that Turkey did not apply for other types of products other than food and agricultural products. It is recommended that Turkish drinks be registered in the EU, especially in gastronomy tourism, as well as food is an important subject.