EVALUATION OF THE TRAVEL MOTIVATIONS OF GASTRONOMY TOURISTS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF TOURIST GUIDES

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to identify the travel motivations of gastronomy tourists from the perspective of tourist guides. More specifically, the objective is to identify the factors that lead gastronomy tourists to a destination and the reasons why gastronomy tourists prefer a destination. The research also focuses on determining the impact of economic, social, and psychological factors, as well as advertising and promotional activities that encourage gastronomy tourists to travel on travel motivation. Within the scope of the research, the qualitative research method was applied and descriptive phenomenology was adopted as the research design, as the experiences of the tourist guides were used. A data collection instrument suitable for the phenomenological pattern was selected and the semi-structured interview technique was used. In order to identify the tourist guides, the criterion sampling method and the snowball sampling method were used. Seventeen tourist guides were interviewed using these methods. The data obtained from the interviews were subjected to content analysis. In addition, descriptive analyzes were conducted using the analysis program “Maxqda 20”. As a result of the analysis, five main themes, twenty-one sub-themes, and one hundred eighty-eight codes were identified. The main themes identified were push factors, pull factors, influencing factors, advertising and promotion factors, and preferred destinations. Experience, festivals and fairs, economic factors, social media tools, and popular sub-themes were found to be the most frequently coded sub-themes. As a matter of fact, the factors that motivate and attract gastronomy tourists to travel, how economic, social, and psychological factors affect gastronomy tourists, and the impact of traditional and social media on travel motivation were found.