The Power of Social Gastronomy Entrepreneurship in Transforming A Terror-Stricken City into A Tourism Destination: A Case Study Practice

Can gastronomy, as a social identity reflecting society, be used as an effective tool in community-based development and the transformation of tourism? In this study, we are looking for a deep yes to the answer to this question by using the narratives of Ebru Baybara Demir, who is known globally as a social gastronomy chef and who has been effective with social gastronomy entrepreneurship in the transformation of a terror-stricken city into a community-based tourism destination. To gain a comprehensive understanding of such a social ecological change, a strategy-as-practice perspective will provide a theoretical foundation by demonstrating how social microprocesses exposed such a macro outcome. Reflexive thematic analysis and interpretive structural modeling, as a mixed method research design, will also help decision makers and researchers to gain a designing perspective such an intricate nature of this ecology.