A qualitative research on the evaluation of gastronomy tourism potential of Bolu province

Bolu is a city housing natural resources playing an important role in the provision of different tourism types in the geography it is located in. Different types of tourism such as nature and culture tourism, winter tourism and thermal tourism are provided in Bolu and attract domestic and foreign tourists. With its geographical position, Bolu has housed different civilizations for centuries. This condition has also formed the basis of a different and rich culture and the inclusion of different regional food in Bolu cuisine. The aim of this thesis study was to determine the potential of gastronomy tourism in Bolu. In this study adopting qualitative research method, data was collected by making semi-structured interviews with tourism partners who have a say in directing the tourism in the city of Bolu. Face-to-face interviews were made with 14 tourism partners (public, private sector and non-governmental organizations) for sampling. Based on the data acquired from these interviews, it was concluded that gastronomy tourism is not at the desired level in Bolu although it has different values which may give prominence to the gastronomy tourism and suggestions were made to improve gastronomy tourism in this regard.