How are local producer partnerships built?

Through direct outreach to regional producer cooperatives and traditional markets; we help you build these connections.

Does a gastronomy hotel need a large kitchen investment?

A cooking school or tasting-menu concept requires a larger and more flexible kitchen than a standard hotel restaurant; we factor this into your budget planning.

Can a foreign investor develop a gastronomy hotel?

Yes, through a company incorporated in Turkey. We manage the process from site selection through tourism license approval.

Is a historic building required for this concept?

Not required, but a historic setting strengthens the authenticity narrative; we help you evaluate both historic and new-build options.

Gastronomy Hotel Investment

Antakya's UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy status creates demand for a hotel concept built specifically around culinary experiences, from cooking classes to curated tasting menus rooted in Antakya cuisine.

A hotel restaurant serving regional cuisine

Antakya's designation as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy gives the region international recognition as a culinary destination. A gastronomy-focused hotel, built around cooking classes, curated tasting menus and partnerships with local producers, can position itself as a distinct experience within the broader hospitality market rather than competing purely on room rates.

What Project Types Can Be Considered?

Boutique hotel with an in-house cooking school
Culinary-themed hotel with curated regional tasting menus
Farm-to-table hotel with an on-site or partnered organic garden
Hotel package combining accommodation with gastronomy tours

Which Areas Should Be Considered?

Antakya's historic center is the primary location given its direct association with the region's culinary heritage and access to traditional markets and producers.

Licensing and Permit Process

Tourism business certificate from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism
Food service establishment registration
Heritage preservation board approval if located in a historic building
Workplace opening and operating permit

Incentive and Support Elements

Region 6 tourism incentives apply, and the UNESCO Gastronomy City designation supports access to cultural tourism promotion programs from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Explore our Tourism Investment Consulting service

Points to Keep in Mind

A gastronomy hotel's credibility depends on authentic relationships with local producers and chefs; building these partnerships before opening is more important than physical amenities alone.

Sources

UNESCO Creative Cities Network: Hatay

From the official data

Tourism: Pre-Earthquake Baseline and the Development Agency's 2025 Records

According to the Hatay Provincial Tourism Strategy and Action Plan of the Eastern Mediterranean Development Agency (DOĞAKA), Hatay had 45 tourism-licensed accommodation facilities, 2,273 rooms and 4,602 beds in 2016 data. These figures describe the situation before the 2023 earthquake; current facility and bed numbers are not in these sources. The agency's 2025 activity report records current tourism projects (Antakya Gastronomy Market, Madenli Yacht Harbour, Hatay Surf Centre).

Indicator	Value	Year	Source
Tourism-licensed accommodation facilities	45	2016	[1]
Rooms · beds	2,273 · 4,602	2016	[1]
Rooms · beds in Antakya (subtotal)	754 · 1,522	2016	[1]
Tourism-licensed food-and-beverage facilities · travel agencies	10 · 86	2016	[1]
Average annual tourists (entries to licensed facilities)	223,304	2009–2015	[1]
Average nights · average occupancy (DOĞAKA calculation)	1.9 · 34.4%	2009–2015	[1]
Antakya Gastronomy Market: opened · daily visitors · businesses	27.09.2024 · about 3,000 · 15	2024–2025	[2]
Hatay Surf Centre (2025 CMDP): completion target	April 2026	2025	[2]

What does this data mean for an investor?

About 33% of the pre-earthquake capacity (1,522 beds) was in Antakya's centre. The present state of this capacity cannot be read from these sources; without the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's current licensed-facility data no accommodation supply figure can be given. By DOĞAKA's calculation, average occupancy in licensed facilities during 2009–2015 was 34.4% with 1.9 nights on average: pre-earthquake demand used only a small part of existing bed capacity. The agency read this as roughly two thirds of accommodation capacity going unused.

What it means for an investor: for a new hotel or boutique-lodging decision, the first question should not be “are beds missing?” but “where will occupied beds come from?”; low pre-earthquake occupancy shows the demand side (visitor numbers, length of stay) matters more than the structure. As current demand indicators, Hatay Airport passenger data (the air-traffic block on this page), new visitor-drawing sites such as the Gastronomy Market and the museum's reopening timetable should be followed together (interpretation).

Limitation: Accommodation and visitor figures refer to 2016 and 2009–2015; they rest on Hatay Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism data in the DOĞAKA plan and do not reflect the 2023 earthquake. The plan's “occupancy” is a rough ratio of annual tourist numbers to bed capacity, not true room occupancy. The plan's visitor and revenue projections for 2023 should be assumed not to have materialised and are not used as reference. The 2025 items are project statuses from the development agency's activity report; visitor numbers (Gastronomy Market) are the agency's statement.

Pages related to this data

Sources

Hatay Airport: Passenger and Cargo Traffic

According to DHMİ data, Hatay Airport served 288,706 passengers in 2024 and 506,499 in 2025 (+75.4%). In the first eight months of 2026 (provisional data) passenger numbers reached 729,935, +237.3% on the 216,390 of the same period in 2025.

Indicator	Value	Year	Source
Passengers (domestic + international)	288,706	2024	[1]
Passengers: total · domestic · international	506,499 · 478,185 · 28,314	2025	[1]
Passengers, January–August	216,390	2025	[1]
Passengers, January–August: total · domestic · international (provisional)	729,935 · 634,067 · 95,868	2026	[1]
Aircraft movements	2,509 → 3,907	2024 → 2025	[1]
Aircraft movements, January–August	1,882 → 4,832	2025 → 2026	[1]
Load (baggage + cargo + mail, tonnes)	2,701.5 → 5,082.7	2024 → 2025	[1]
Of which cargo (tonnes)	19.0 → 48.7	2024 → 2025	[1]

What does this data mean for an investor?

Passengers in the first eight months of 2026 equal 144% of all of 2025: the airport passed the previous year's total in under a year. International passengers were zero at the end of August 2025, 5,245 by the end of September and 28,314 at year-end; in 2026 they reached 95,868 in eight months. The cumulative figures for July and August 2025 are identical (216,390): there are no recorded passengers in August 2025. DHMİ's table does not give the reason; the programme contains runway and apron repair items (TRY 16 billion, 2023–2026), but no causal link between the two is drawn here.

The load item (5,082.7 tonnes) combines baggage, cargo and mail; in 2025 only 48.7 tonnes of it were cargo (1.0%). The airport is thus passenger-driven today; for air-cargo investments (cold chain, e-commerce distribution) current volumes are very low and demand cannot be inferred from these data.

What it means for an investor: the rapid recovery in passenger numbers points to demand being rebuilt for tourism and business-travel services such as hotels, restaurants, car rental and transfers (interpretation). But the data do not say whether passengers are tourists, business travellers or visitors, or how many nights they stay; accommodation investments need a separate demand study.

Limitation: The 2026 figures are DHMİ's “provisional” data and may change. Passenger numbers count arrivals plus departures (one traveller counts twice). Purpose of visit, length of stay and spending are not in this source. No comparison with 2023 or earlier (pre-earthquake) is made here.

Pages related to this data

Sources

Figures come from official sources; interpretations are Invest Hatay's own and are not investment advice.

Frequently asked questions about gastronomy hotel investment

It provides international recognition and an authenticity narrative that strengthens positioning, particularly for culinary tourists researching destinations.