Economic sustainability of local food & beverage production as a tourist attraction: The example of Kazdağı

Locality of the destination manifests itself in authentic cultural aspects and a regional identity, as well as the offer of an authentic sense of place for the visitors. Small scale agricultural and gastronomical production that is attributable to a specific region is expected to produce authentic and nutritious products through people and environment friendly processes, as well as a complete tourist attraction, complemented by cultural and natural heritage, to offer memorable, creative tourism experiences for the visitors, to empower local economies by minimising leakage through local resource use and to offer a possibility for diversification for local producers. Such a development offers an alternative to industrial food and beverage production, characterised by a will to dominate nature and a focus on quantity and should therefore aim at the sustainability of the production. A tourist product that develops around the attraction of local food and beverage production and enriched by natural and cultural heritage, is expected to be sustainable by supporting local development and nature conservation, sustaining demand and reducing costs, through a long term plan. Instead of focusing solely on economic benefits, environmental and social costs, which are more complicated to measure, should also be included in determining economic sustainability. Kazdağı region boosts a rich agricultural and gastronomical heritage, besides various other tourist attractions. The scope of research consists of enterprises, which offer local food and beverage production either as a main or supporting tourism attraction and local people. The results, gathered through interview and observation, are applied to the template developed to determine the introduction level tourism development to show signs of medium level sustainability. The region is in need of a solid long-term, pro-active tourism plan for the later stages. Also, efforts are needed for a regional brand development for local products, to overcome seasonality and to improve transportation infrastructure. The region also needs a qualified workforce, support from the local government and natural and architectural conservation. Keywords: Locality, Authenticity, Local F&B Production, Rural Tourism, Sustainable Agriculture, Local Cuisine, Economic Sustainability, Kazdağı