Analyzing Tea Tourism Products and Experiences From India and Turkey

Abstract

Tea is considered an important symbol of expression of socio-cultural heritage, community bonding, ethnicities, and customs to strengthen local place identity. Tea tourism offers an engaging and enduring gastronomic experience due to the active participation of tourists. This study aims to identify the key destination tea tourism products or experiences. This study uses a qualitative research approach to identify the prime tea tourism products and experiences from two important tea-growing nations, i.e., India and Turkey, ranked second and fifth in global tea production, respectively. The research findings present four main categories: facilities, activities, tours, training, Observation, and twenty-five sub-categories relating to tea tourism products and experiences. This study also strives to discover the contribution of tea tourism products or experiences in the tours conducted by Indian and Turkey travel agencies. This study is one of the first studies to examine the selected elements of tea tourism at the destination. The results will contribute to several theoretical and practical implications concerning tea tourism in tea-producing countries. The study will also offer essential insights into how travel agencies may use tea tourism products and experiences efficiently in packaging their tours.