Importance of local cusine on destination image: Example of Kastamonu province

The concept of destination, which has become one of the most used term in the course of tourism, is a unified thing that attracts both domestic and foreign tourists, including many abstract or concrete features that a place has. Gastronomic tourism, which has been mentioned frequently in recent times and is among the features of destination, is a kind of tourism which aims to understand the culinary delights of the cultures and as well as it offers visitors the opportunity to see and experience local historical and natural values. So much so that gastronomy tourism destinations of visitors is growing in importance day by day and has begun to show the impact in Kastamonu has 812 kinds of dishes. The aim of this study is to evaluate the Kastamonu cuisine by local tourists coming to Kastamonu and to show importance the image of Kastamonu province destination of local cuisine. The universe of research has been created by the visitors of Kastamonu in 2017-2018. The sample of the study consisted of 400 individuals selected by chance from the random sample. Literature survey and questionnaire study were conducted about the research topic. According to the result of the research, in the selection of the destination, the historical place of the local cuisine comes after factors like natural environment, culture / art, family ties, rest. The results show that the survey participant likes Kastamonu cuisine and will prefer it again. Key Words: Destination, Destination Image, Gastronomy Tourism, Local Cusine, Kastamonu Cousine.