Gastro tourists, who will travel with the motivation of gastronomy tourism, choose the destinations according to the presence of these attraction elements. However, it can be stated that these attraction elements are not ignored for other tourist typologies. Due to its close border interaction with Iran and its increasing tourist population every year, the province of Van, which offers authentic experiences in terms of culinary culture, has many attractions that can be evaluated within the scope of gastronomy tourism. For this reason, it is considered very important to determine, develop and promote gastronomy tourism attraction elements for the province of Van. In this context, determining the attraction resources of Van province in terms of gastronomy tourism and evaluating them from the perspective of these resources constitutes the main purpose of this research. The gastronomy tourism attraction elements of Van province will be determined through document analysis, one of the qualitative research methods. These elements are classified in the relevant literature as local cuisine, geographically indicated products, agricultural activities, restaurants, cooking competitions, gastronomy museums, gastronomy festivals and tasting tours. Through the SWOT analysis planned to be conducted from the perspective of gastronomy tourism attraction elements, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats will be evaluated in order to qualify the province of Van as a destination in terms of gastronomy tourism. Through this study, it is aimed to determine the gastronomy tourism potential of Van province and provide suggestions for future research and projects.

Keywords: Gastronomy Tourism, Elements of Attraction, SWOT Analysis, Destination Branding, Van Culinary Culture