Geographically Marked Product Perception of Tourism Students: A Research in Erzurum

Abstract

In this study, the geographical indication (GI) notion, which is one of the industrial property rights, and its importance has been tried to explain and information has been given about the products that got GI, whose registration performed especially in Turkey, and their distribution. Furthermore, the aim of this study is to determine the perception and awareness of products with GI of the manager candidates who are expected to take part in business and kitchens in the accommodation and food-beverage sector in the future that is the students who study in the field of Tourism and mostly is the Gastronomy and Culinary Arts and is to determine their point of view on products that got GI. It has been thought that this situation is very important in terms of the sustainability of GI practices, the evaluation of products with GI in terms of tourism and especially in terms of gastronomy, culture and rural tourism, and their availability in businesses and units that provide food-beverage service. Accordingly, a questionnaire was applied to 419 students studying tourism at the undergraduate level via e-mail. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the students’ GI perception was low and their GI awareness did not differ according to their levels of department and grade. This situation of producers and manager candidates who are expected to protect their cultural heritage in the future, and who are mainly educated in Tourism in the field of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, has been evaluated as quite thought-provoking, and various suggestions have been developed for sustainability of products with GI.