The Importance of Tourist Guides in Preference of Gastronomic Products on Cultural Tours

Abstract

With the study carried out to determine the importance of tourist guides in the preference of gastronomic products in cultural tours, it was tried to determine what issues both tourist guides and tourists pay attention to when choosing eating and drinking places. The research also tried to reveal the expectations of local restaurant businesses from tourist guides. Qualitative research method was used within the scope of the research. Research data collected with semi-structured interview forms were obtained from interviews with tourist guides. Twenty-four active tourist guides, who are knowledgeable about gastronomy and selected by snowball sampling method, participated in the research. By applying descriptive analysis, certain themes were determined and interpretations were made by adding direct quotations. As a result of the research, it was determined that the tourist guides gave importance to cleanliness and hygiene the most, while tourists gave importance to the price while choosing a place to eat and drink. On the other hand, according to the results of the research, local food and beverage businesses expect tourist guides to encourage tourists to spend more. At the end of the research, various suggestions were made for practitioners and future studies.