Marketing of local kitchen and food as touristic product: Case of Kastamonu

The importance of the contribution of tourism income to the country's economy is known. For this reason, destinations are in constantly competing to get a large share in the tourism market. One of the strategies that destinations pursue to remain competitive is to offer a different type of tourism to their visitors. In recent years, a new type of tourism has emerged under the name of gastronomic tourism. Tourists participating in this tourism activity want to experience the local tastes of the visited region and even take into account the cooking techniques and presentation. Considering all these together tourists started to consider these factors while making their travel choices. In this way the of the regions which are at the forefront with their regional/local dishes competitiveness in the tourism market has increased an has provided an advantage in competition. The aim of this research, is to develop suggestions for economic gain by marketing Kastamonu local cuisine and local foods used in this kitchen as a touristic product. In this research quantitative method was used. In the research data were obtained from the research sample by using the survey technique. The data optained, were analyzed by using a statistical package program which is frequently used in social sciences. Within this scope, factor and reliability analysis, independent sample t-test, ANOVA and Kruskal Wallis-H tests were implemented. As a result of the research, it was seen that the marketing of local cuisines and foods didn't differ according to the gender, marital status, educational status, occupation, monthly income and job area of the participants. Besides, it is determined that the average of the responses given to the expressions in Kastamonu's Bringing the Local Flavors to Tourism and Marketing, İnvestment-Employment scales are high. Keywords: Regiona Cuisine, Regional Food, Tourist Product, Marketing, Kastamonu Cuisine.