Analysis of local gastronomic products through evaluation criteria and development of Cappadocia Region gastronomy routes through geographical information systems

This study, which is to create a gastronomy route that is frequently used by visitors to the Cappadocia region and will cover the rocky areas of Cappadocia, has two objectives. In the study, firstly, it is planned to determine which products belonging to the local cuisine culture of the Cappadocia region will be included in the gastronomy routes to be created, and then it is aimed to create gastronomy routes by determining the businesses that produce and sell the determined gastronomic products. In order to achieve the main objective of the study, a total of 81 products, including 13 products of Aksaray province, 36 products of Kayseri province, 26 products of Niğde province and 16 products of Nevşehir province in the Cappadocia region, were analyzed according to the criteria developed by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Argentina. In the first part of the research, the population of the research consists of experts in the culinary culture of the Cappadocia region, while the sample consists of 56 gastronomy experts selected according to the judgmental sampling method. In the second stage, sampling was used again and judgmental sampling was used. Therefore, food and beverage establishments located in the Cappadocia region, which include local food in their menus and have high evaluation scores on online social media platforms were included in the sample. In order to achieve the aim of the study, qualitative research methods were utilized in the first stage and GIS in the second stage. According to the results of the analysis, the local cuisine products of the Cappadocia region were categorized into four classes as magnificent product, superior product, suitable product and ordinary product, and the establishments where the products classified as magnificent product and superior product were presented and sold were identified. The geographical coordinates of these businesses were taken with a GPS device and these points were connected to each other by transferring ArcGIS Pro GIS. Within the scope of the study, three different gastronomy routes were created by adhering to the routes frequently used by visitors and travel agencies visiting the Cappadocia region. The study is considered to be a solution study in terms of determining the products to be included in the gastronomy route to be created and the processes of creating a gastronomy route and will contribute to the literature. Keywords: Cappadocia region, local cuisine, gastronomy routes, geographic information systems