One important factor influencing people's choice of restaurants is the variety of dishes offered. Turkish cuisine is notable for its rich diversity and regional differences, and Kayseri cuisine is one of the leading examples of this variety. This study aims to identify the reasons domestic tourists prefer local restaurants, examine differences in preferences by demographic characteristics, and determine which foods come to mind when Kayseri is mentioned. The study used a survey of 429 domestic tourists who chose restaurants offering local cuisine in Kayseri. The results indicate that the reflection of the city's culture through local foods influences tourists' preference for local restaurants, that the foods most associated with Kayseri are, in order, mantı (Turkish dumplings), yağlama (Turkish layered flatbread with meat or cheese), and pastırma (Turkish cured beef), and that there are no significant differences in the preference for local foods based on gender.
Tuncay Çanakçı (Wed,) studied this question.