Determining the domestic visitors motivations of local food consumption: Case of Beypazari

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that affect local food consumption of domestic visitors to Beypazarı in terms of tourism motivations and to identify their local food consumption motivations. In this context, while data through questionnaire is collecting, face to face interviews were conducted with domestic visitors who came to Beypazarı and consumed local food. Data was collected from a total of 385 domestic visitors by means of a data collection tool developed for this study. According to research findings, motivations that affect domestic visitors? local food consumption were grouped under four factors. The factors which have acceptable validity and reliability scores were named as ?cultural motivations?, ?physical motivations?, ?interpersonal motivations? and ?psychological relief motivations?. Exploratory analysis of mean differences showed that no statistically significant differences were found between local food consumption motivation of domestic tourists in terms of gender and education level. To determine the relationship between age as one of demographic variables and local food consumption motivation, correlation analysis was performed. According to the findings, it was determined that local food consumption motivation has a positive but weak correlation with interpersonal motivations and psychological relief motivations. Local food motivations of visitors were discussed by comparing the results of this study with the results of theoretical and empirical researches found in the relevant literature. Also, recommendations were made for future researches on relevant subjects that can be focused on. In addition, some recommendations were made for tourism practitioners to consider in mind the factors that emerged from this research as important elements of motivation that affect local food consumption Keywords: Local Food, Food Consumption, Travel Motivations, Domestic Tourist, Beypazarı