Turkey’s Food Image, Travelers’ Revisit Intention and Tourist Expenditures

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the food image of Turkey by measuring the perceptions of visitors' and its effect on revisiting intentions. Food image can be defined as beliefs, feelings, and impressions of travelers about food and beverages, food and beverage establishments, culinary culture, and food and beverage related activities of a destination. The questions of this research identify: if there is a relationship among food image, tourist satisfaction and revisiting intention, to what extent visitors’ intention to take part in gastronomy tourism activities, what is the average food and beverage expenditures of the visitors. Questionnaires were distributed to 407 foreign visitors traveling in Turkey. It has been determined that the perceived food image has three dimensions: culinary culture and food, gastronomy activities, and food and beverage establishments. Visitors are very pleased with the food and beverages, and restaurants in Turkey and interested in local gastronomy. The results show that the most remembered food and beverages by the visitors are Kebap, Rakı, Döner, Aubergine, and Baklava. It has been revealed that the food image of the destination affects the visitors' revisiting intention. During their stay in Turkey, the average expenditure of visitors on food and beverage is $ 575, which is 18.9% of their holiday budget. Gastronomy is an influential factor in the satisfaction of visitors, even if it is not a touristic attraction alone. Visitors tend to participate in gastronomy-related activities during their travels.