Browsing by Author "Demir, Cengiz"

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The Current Perceptions of Travel Agencies in Izmir About Gastronomy Tourism and Their Actual Gastronomic Tourism Offers
(2022) Demir, Cengiz; İriguler İriguler, Feray
Gastronomy tourism is not only captivating tourists’ attention, but also contributing to the social, economic and environmental development of destinations. Even though it has emerged as a crucial segment of the tourism industry, gastronomy tourism development has not been analyzed in the context of travel agencies. The aim of this research is to find out whether travel agencies in İzmir make any efforts for gastronomy tourism development and also analyze their approaches, perceptions and overall support to gastronomy tourism. Travel agencies in downtown İzmir were surveyed in terms of their actual gastronomy tourism product offers and any future plans about creating one. Results indicated that gastronomy is not promoted as a principal theme. Travel agencies were also analyzed in terms of their gastronomy tourism knowledge, their approaches and perceived positive and negative effects of gastronomy tourism indicating that there is a lack of awareness about potential local and regional culinary sources. However, they have a positive approach for its development. And finally, their opinions were referred to highlight their overall support to gastronomy tourism; results indicating agencies’high interest for its development in İzmir as well as supporting increased number of gastronomy tourists.
Travel Agencies’ Role in Gastronomy Tourism Development and a Gastronomy Tour Example
(2022) İriguler İriguler, Feray; Demir, Cengiz
Gastronomy tourism embraces a wide range of gastronomic opportunities for tourists while contributing to sustainability, rural development and the protection of culinary heritage. It diversifies and revitalizes tourism as one of the industry's essential element and emerging segments. However, there is a scarcity of research on the issue related to travel agencies. The purpose of this research is to determine whether travel agencies in İzmir use culinary elements and gastronomic sources as themes in their tour packages to highlight the gastronomy tourism potential of the city, and explore ways of developing this approach. Thus, the contribution of this study is threefold. First, travel agencies in downtown İzmir were surveyed in terms of their actual gastronomy tourism product offers and future plans to create one. The survey results revealed that gastronomy was not promoted as a principal theme due to a lack of awareness of potential local and regional culinary resources. Second, experts in the gastronomy and tourism industries were contacted using purposive sampling. Their opinions were sought regarding places, products and activities that could be included in a gastronomy tour package. Finally, an example tour program was created based on expert opinions along with the author’s contribution.
Understanding Travel Agencies Attitudes Towards Gastronomy Tourism and Food Tours: the Case of Izmir Turkey
(Int Journal Contemporary Economics & Administrative Sciences, 2022) Yentur, Feray; Demir, Cengiz
This study considers that travel agencies can be active builders in food tourism destinations. This paper develops and validates a scale to measure the the attitude of travel agencies towards gastronomy tourism and food tours, labeled as support to gastronomy tourism (SGT). Study identified 6 dimensions and 33 initial items through an extensive literature review. Then an exploratory factor analysis was applied to filter the items. The results provided empirical support for a 29-item and six-dimension solution to the SGT scale which consisted of gastronomy tourism knowledge (GTK); approach to gastronomy tourism (AGT); perceived power to impact gastronomy tourism (PPIGT); perceived positive effects of gastronomy tourism (PPEGT); perceived negative effects of gastronomy tourism (PNEGT) and support to gastronomy tourism (SGT) through confirmatory factor analysis. This study contributes to the gastronomy tourism development by revisiting the role of travel agencies. For practical implications, the findings call attention to the importance of provision of knowledge and guidance from authorities as well as the necessity of individual efforts of agency owners to foster the development of gastronomy.