Gastronomy Tourism in Turkey and Beyond: An Approach by ICT - Tapa blanda

Food has an undeniable importance for life.Increasingly, food is also becoming a central factor in travelers' choice over a destination. In recent years, ICT -especially theInternet- has also become very important for the tourism sector. At thevery least, advent of numerous ICT systems enable operators,agents and (sometimes even) destinations to create clientdatabases and to effectively market their online products. Mostimportantly, the Internet reduces barriers across nations and thus makes foodculture of one country visible to another. Nevertheless, studies-concerning the uses of ICT and the Internet with regards to tourism-food tourism in particular- - so far have focused mostly on Europeanand Western nations, such as Italy, France, UK and USA. Thisbook assesses both the importance of food and the ICT for travelers fromTurkey. The analysis should shed some light on Turkey as an emerging gastronomic market and highlight the importance ofculture on different holiday preferences. It should beinteresting for anyone who has a sincere interest in food and travel; and who regularly resorts to the Internet for a glimpse of "where and what the locals eat".

Aysegul Surenkok Kesimoglu, Received MSc in Economics &Management (ACME) at Bocconi University in Milan (Italy). Graduation thesis:Gastronomy tourism & ICT in Turkey –Istanbul in particular. B.Sc. in Economics at KocUniversity in Istanbul (Turkey). Economics, Student Exchange Program at GeorgetownUniversity, Washington DC (USA) in 2006.