Opinions and behaviors of employees in food and beverage enterprises about tourism and tourists: Case of Gaziantep

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the behavior of employees towards tourism and tourists in food and beverage businesses operating in Gaziantep. The data in the study were collected using a questionnaire. The universe of the research consists of employees employed in food and beverage businesses in Gaziantep. In this context, a face-to-face survey was applied to 413 food and beverage business employees in September and December of 2020. When the results of the research are examined in general, it is seen that the evaluations of the food and beverage business employees' views and behaviors towards tourism and tourists are generally positive. However, the food and beverage business employees' gender, age,It has been observed that there are differences according to the educational status in the field of tourism, the location of the business, and the knowledge of the UNESCO creative cities network. However, it has been observed that the employees of the food and beverage business generally behave respectfully towards tourists. Various suggestions were presented according to the findings obtained in the last stage of the study. Key words: Food and beverage businesses, gastronomy tourism, Gaziantep, employee behavior