Perception and satisfaction of educational touristson local food: The case of Gazimagusa, North Cyprus

This study investigates the perception and satisfaction of educational tourists regarding the local food of Famagusta, North Cyprus through the cultural exchange that took place between local and international students. The study used an inductive approach in order to achieve a qualitative understanding of the research area. Semistructured interviews with 16 students, 4 local restaurant owners and 2 local producers supplied valuable information about the experiences, beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and perception of local. The findings demonstrate that students are just satisfied with local food and their perception of local food is that it is fresh and not too expensive. On the other hand local restaurateurs have no ideas about how to attract more students to their restaurants because they have their own local consumers. The findings show that there are no relations between students and local restaurant owners. Moreover there is not enough information available for students enable them to explore the city It is recommended that local community, city council and university authorities coming up to a proper plan to bring economic development accordance with environment and sustainability issues. Keywords: Local Food, Educational tourism, Sustainability, Economic development