Participation Motivation of Visitors of Local Food-Themed Gastronomy Festival

Local food Gastronomy festivals Visitors motivation Tourism Abstract The purpose of this study is to evaluate visitors’ motivation factors for attending local food-themed gastronomy festival and to contribute to the existing literature. In accordance with this purpose, literature review was conducted and the scale used by Çela, Lankford and Lankford (2007) was used to collect data. Primary data was collected from 415 participants attending to Kahramanmaras and Anatolian Local Products Festival organized by the local government between the dates 14th and 29th April 2018 in Karadeniz Ereğli, Zonguldak. By using a convenience sampling technique, collected data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, independent sample t-test, and ANOVA. Striking results showed that students and 21-25 age group participated in for pleasure; retirees, bachelor's degree and above participants and 46-50 age group participants participated in for enlightenment, and employers participated in for an experience. In addition, when the satisfaction levels of participation in the festival were examined, it was found that 56-60 age group participants, women and employees were more satisfied.