A phenomenological study on tourist oriented restaurants

As it is in every phase of life, food has a significant meaning in tourist activities. In this period, when tourists are away from their homes, they mostly have foods and beverages in the restaurants. Restaurants in a tourism destination make efforts to meet tourists' needs and wants. In recent years it is known that restaurants which act in accordance with the tourists' demands and expectations have started to emerge. In this context, the aim of this research is to understand tourist oriented restaurant phenomenon which is a result of these configurations. The questions which are developed in line with this purpose are as in the followings: - How can the restaurants in a destination in the context of tourist oriented phenomenon be classified? - What are the factors that affect the emergence of tourist oriented restaurants in tourism destinations? - How can the characteristics of tourist oriented restaurants operating in a tourism destination be defined? To be able to answer these research questions, phenomenological research, which is a qualitative research method, was used. The research area has been determined as Alanya district of Antalya which is one of the important tourism centers of our country. Focus group interviews, interviews, document analysis and observations were used together as data collection tools. First of all, focus group interview (6 people) was conducted to prepare the interview form. Interview form was developed using the findings of the focus group meeting. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 people including foreign residents (5 people), restaurateurs (5 people), local people (4 people), local authorities (2 people) and chefs (2 people) in Alanya. Participants determined by using purposeful and snowball sampling methods. Interviews constitute the main data source of study. Restaurant menus (40 pieces) and user-generated contents on Tripadvisor (1038 comments) were analysed to support the findings of the interviews. These restaurants, whose comments were analysed, were also visited on site and observed in terms of their physical characteristic. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings were classified in four main categories: founding purpose of the restaurants, factors affecting the structure of the restaurants, classification of the restaurants and the characteristic features of the restaurants. It was seen that tourist oriented restaurants were opened due to two basic reasons primary and secondary aims which affected by tourism, governmental planning and stakeholders. It was also seen that restaurants can be divided into six different types depending on local people and tourist interaction. Tourist oriented restaurants were also examined in six sub-categories: location, service time, physical features, menu and food characteristics, and employee characteristics. Tourist-oriented restaurants were also examined in six sub-categories: location, service time, physical conditions, menu and food features and employee characteristics. As a result, it is believed that this research will make contributions to the related literature by clarifying the phenomenon of tourist-oriented restaurant. Keywords: Tourism, Restaurant, Tourist Oriented Restaurant, Phenomenology, Alanya