Development of a Vegan-Friendly Destination—The Case of Didim

ABSTRACT

Veganism is growing and more people are adhering to their vegan lifestyle while travelling. However, there is a lack of research that investigates vegan tourism in terms of destination development. Hence, this study examines the development of a destination as vegan-friendly under two research questions: (1) what are the aspects of a vegan-friendly destination, and (2) how it is developed. The research examines the specific case of Didim, Turkey, which declared itself vegan-friendly in 2017. Online and on-site interviews are conducted with tourism professionals, local business owners, volunteers from NGOs, and residents. The research sheds light into how the development process of Didim as vegan-friendly occurred. The findings also reveal the aspects of a vegan-friendly destination, including adherence to the vegan philosophy, availability a vegan cuisine, addressed needs of vegan visitors, abolition or reduction of animal exploitation, complementary social interactions and a favourable attitude of the local population.

KEYWORDS:

• Vegan-friendly destination
• sustainable destination development
• destination planning
• food-based tourism
• vegan festivals
• stakeholder collaboration

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical approval

The research on which this article is based has received the ethical approval of the Boğaziçi University Institutional Review Board in Social Sciences and Humanities (for human subjects research—approval: SBB-EAK 2021/82).