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Tourist Experiences of Guided Culinary Tours: The Case of Istanbul

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to investigate the culinary experiences of tourists visiting Istanbul, Turkey. This study adopted a qualitative case study method utilizing user-generated content by analyzing travelers’ comments on one of the most popular travel websites. The data was collected between 30 May and 28 June 2019 from travelers’ reviews. The findings show that culinary tour experiences are heterogeneous based on dimensions of guide, food characteristics (taste, variety, flexibility, and availability), educational experience, authentic experience, memorable experience, value/price, socialize/meet people, safety, the hospitality of locals, and satisfaction, recommendation, and revisit intentions. Since there are no previous empirical studies on the culinary tour experience of tourists in the existing literature, it is believed that this study provides a significant contribution to the current knowledge. Moreover, from a managerial perspective, this study provides an in-depth understanding of the culinary tour experience in tourist destinations.