Turkey is a country in the middle part of Asia, neighboring with Georgia at the Northeast part of the country, Iran to the Southeastern part, and Greece to the Western part. The country is advantaged by being surrounded by two seas Black on the northern side and Aegean to the western side. Turkey is a famous country especially due to the history of its old world splendor, and the mysteries of the period when the crusaders used to roam all over its streets (Reijnders). Currently the country has left behind the ancient legends and has accepted the modern way of life. There are several modern cities in this country, several castles, and mosques.
The citizens of turkey are very hospitable, and the food available is wonderful. The most beautiful part of turkey is its coastline. There are several tourist attraction places in turkey. The famous tourist attraction destinations that are preferred by most of tourist both domestic and foreign are ten of them. These tourist attraction destinations include, Ankara, which is the turkey’s capital city, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Troy, Museum Parks and others (McKenna, & Ward).
This project is mainly to give a wide analysis of turkey as a tourism destination and its impact to the culture of the society within the same locality. All the attractions that make the tourists to keep coming back are mentioned, and their interests in the Country. The contributions of the tourist industry to this Nation are also discussed and the mutual benefits between the country’s economy and the tourist industry.
Natural Environment in Turkey
Turkey is located in the central part of Asia, which has a natural environment very helpful to its built environment making the whole place unforgettable, and more attractive to the tourists. The major part of the country that has contributed much to its natural environment is the presence of the black and the Aegean seas (McKenna, & Ward). These seas have acted as a major tourist attraction as they are also the most common way of transport. These seas provide other natural living things that are attractive to the tourists. The landscape of turkey is also very welcoming to the tourists as they provide a very reliable means of transports for them.
The landscape of Turkey has also some beautiful mountains that are very attractive to the tourists. The surrounding environment has widely adopted sustainable developments especially in transportation and cultural diversities. Outside the country, there is a natural scenic of waters, which has added the attraction of the tourists (Reijnders). The presence of the past famous empires is all within the locality of the country. Such empires include the Ottoman and Roman, which have proved to improve the beauty of the country to the citizen tourists and foreign tourists.
The place has a unique culture for instance; people around the area greet each other by kissing one another on the cheek as away of showing high level of socializing and wellness. The tourists have widely embraced the infrastructural development of the area, as they get a good and smooth way to reach where the park is (McKenna, & Ward). In addition to the developments of the roads and other communication networks, the area has advanced in various ways to maintain the level of tourism. The culture and customs of the area are also a factor that attracts tourism very much.
The Turkey Society
Within the society turkey, there are people whose culture can be described as complex. It is composed of people of various traditions, religious affiliations, and various practice of arts (Light). The influence of these peoples culture mostly comes from Ottoman who was the early Christian acts as role models of many people there. Several communities within this country practice art of making jewelry, pottery and other beauty costumes. Apart from Christianity, other people practice Islamic religious who also have their way of doing arts. The Islamic artists mostly concentrate in woodcarvings and making items from ceramics.
The most interesting piece of arts to these people is how they come up with woven wool carpets that are very attractive (Turnock). The population of people in this society is very diverse due to the presence of different ethnic groups. Some of the common groups of people found within the society are Christians and Jews among others. For the visitors, some cultures are advised to adhere to when they visit this place. For instance, incase one is offering his or her hand for greetings; one should only give the right hand as the left one is considered unclean.
When a visitor decides to visit the traditional gatherings of these people or in the mosque, one should be dressed in a modern manner covering the legs, head and the shoulders as a sign of respect and without shoes (Light). Cleanliness and hygiene is another aspect that is much treasured by these people. The issue of washing hands is taken very seriously, especially before and after taking a meal. When there is a scarcity of water, people are given some moist towels to clean. Other important features with these people concerns taking photos, there are some sensitive areas where photos cannot be taken like the museums, and state buildings. When walking around the place visitors are advised to avoid some topics concerning volatile issues.
Heritage Resources
These properties can be passed from one generation to another. The things that can be passed from one generation to another include the customs, traditional practices, and other cultural elements (McKenna, & Ward). The heritage factors help visitors especially the tourists to experience and understand the place better. For instance, in the Miniature Park there is a museum where the tourists can see the monuments of empires like ottoman.
Still in these museums, the tourists can observe other stone and tools that were used from the ancient periods. These stones and tools in the museums help the tourists to experience the heritage of Turkey (McKenna, & Ward). The different types of temples and the monuments within the country unravel the past crucial histories of the area. The artistic styles within the area were also very important to anyone in understanding the most valuable things from the past to the current times.
The History of Tourism in Turkey
Recently, Turkey has improved to be among the most popular sites for tourist destinations. It is rated to be among the top ten nations who are receiving much revenue from tourism. In the year 2007, the turkey government initiated a project to improve the services of the tourist sectors (Light). Some future programs concerning tourism were made to cover up to 2023; top makes tourism a continuous performance in turkey. The main purpose of this project was to increase the services of tourism that can serve up to 63 million tourists. The country attracts many tourists due to its temperate Mediterranean climate, availability of big beautiful cities and interesting ancient histories. The regular tourists who came in turkey are the business tourists, summer season tourists, and others who enjoy ancient culture of turkey. Currently, the turkey tourist industry has developed several services especially in hotels and other areas to meet the increasing demands of the tourists.
Push factors
These factors force the tourists to leave their residential areas and look for a favorable place to enjoy for a given period. Such factors include economic status, social settings, geographical settings, advancement of technology and political obligations (McKenna, & Ward). Since 2003, when Turkey became modernized, it received tourists from Japan, Australia and Korea. One of the major push factors that led these tourists to Turkey is the availability and freedom of travelling.
Pull Factors
These are the factors in the tourism cite that make draws tourists nearer. These factors include the attraction at the site, accessibility of the site; the quality of services offered there, the reliability, affordability, and the reputation of the attraction cite (Light). The services of Turkey tourist attraction destinations are of quality and affordable to most tourists for instance, in Hagia Sophia. The presence of infrastructure development within the area has made the place accessible to anyone interested to use any means of transport. The types of services and the ceremonies that are carried there, adds more attraction to the area making it more appropriate for the tourists.
Likely motivational factors
Different tourists have different moptivational factors that make them to decide which site of attraction they will spend their holiday in. Several needs and desires can lead someone to visit a certain place. There are both internal and external factors that can lead to someone doing something. Through close observation of the tourists in their destination, this can help one to decide what motivated them to choose the place (Kuvan). Most of the tourists who come in Turkey tourists’ destinations are driven by the dire need of recreation, whereby they take a break to rest from their daily responsibilities to gain momentum for working again. Most of the tourists who visit the Turkey Parks spend their time watching the cultural activities in the park and seeing other historical monuments as they try to understand the cultural heritage of the place.
For the young tourist, Turkey is the place to enjoy the freedom that they do not get at their residential places. At home, they work with restrictions of time and places to visit, but at their destination, they do not even need to use a clock as they spend most of their time absorbed in games and other leisure activities (Kuvan). Their moments in the parks or in any other Turkey tourist destination create an opportunity for them to experience the extraordinary and the unfamiliar things that rarely happen in their countries. Some of them even try to dress like the people in Turkey societies to feel as part of them.
Promotions of Turkey tourism
The travel agencies have played a great part in promoting this place to a tourist destination. These agencies have a wide network of giving out some brochures containing the information of Miniature Park (Kuvan). Some of the important information found in these brochures includes the type of lifestyle the tourist should expect, the surrounding environment, and the quality of accommodation available in the nation. Use of websites is another way that has promoted the services of Turkey tourist destinations a great deal. Through the travel agents, some posters showing the beauty of the Nation are distributed to different people as a way of advertising the place. For the tourists who like the work of arts, get the best display in those posters, and hence develop the desire of coming to witness them.
Activities of tourists in Turkey
The activities of the tourists in almost all tourists destination falls under two categories, tourists can be engaged in just gazing the activities and the events, or else he or she can participate in the performances that are taking place there(Kuvan). Tourists can decide to look at the things that are happening, as they are extraordinary and are not common in his or her residential places. The tourists who may be in dire need of resting and meditating in a silent place mostly like watching these happen.
There are those tourists who want to be busy all through to avoid boredom; these would prefer to take part in some performances that are taking place (Kuvan). In most of the Turkey’s tourist destinations, both activities have been observed where tourists take part in some cultural practices done there, while others just walk around the place reading the historical records of the empires as they watch the architectural arts. Most of the tourist sites in Turkey like the Parks have provided tourists with activities that they can engage in like swimming pools and gift shops where they participate in buying various gifts for their loved ones. Within the parks, museums, and other destinations tourists are allowed to take photos that keep them busy and participatory.
The impact of tourism on societies in Turkey
Tourism in Turkey had both positive and negative impacts. Through tourism, the people in the neighboring society have been able to maintain their culture and learn more things concerning their culture (Gezici). Through tourism, the people around the place have gotten financial support through presentation of their culture to the tourists. Through tourism, the society has gained more recognition and fame than before. The level of education has also increased through the tour guides learning more than one language to communicate well with the tourists. The only negative impact that resulted from tourism is through some tourists getting involved in some disrespectable behaviors like drug abuse, and commercial sex behaviors. Through these behaviours, the culture of several societies within the country is left at stake.
Accommodation in Turkey Tourist destinations
Tourists who visit Turkey have accessibility of various styles of accommodations. There are big five stars hotels within the compound of most of these destinations that offers high quality accommodation that accomplishes their luxury and fit for their budgets (Kuvan). Some of the best experiences found in their accommodations are the presence of the hot bathing water, swimming pools, room refreshers, and high technology televisions. Outside the compound of most destinations, there is also availability of high quality accommodation services that the tourists can use. There are good services offered by the neighbors to make them comfortable and fully enjoy their stay in Turkey.
Gastronomic experiences
Within the city and big towns of Turkey, there are restaurants that prepare various international foods for the tourists. In addition, they also have an opportunity to eat what they deserve from the outside caterers in the surrounding shopping centers (Cooper). The availability of the cooking courses in the tourist destinations is the best source of attraction for the gastronomic tourists. Some goes to the market to see the various cooking components that are sold, and buy some cooking items. They get a chance to prepare a meal for them, and later enjoy it. Most tourist destinations in Turkey have provided all sorts of cooking materials as well as different types of meats to fit every individual who visits the place.
Transportation
In Turkey, there are all sorts of transports available. Within the compounds of several parks, one can travel through a train especially the young children enjoy it very much. Moving from one point of the park to the other, tourists make use of air-conditioned minibuses especially for the tourists whom prefer the most comfortable travels (Kuvan). Taxis are also available in Museums and Park for the tourists who want to explore the farthest corners of the park. There is availability of motor bikes and cars that the tourist can use when they wish to move from one place to another. Transport services in Turkey generally are very effective.
Conclusion
Turkey tourist destinations provide a wide experience for all types of tourists. For the past years since when the nation became modernized, it has provided a good opportunity for the tourist to participate in the culture heritage of the nation. Societies have also developed much through the presence of this attraction site, and the whole country benefitting economically. However, the negative influences of the tourism to the neighboring societies of tourist destinations, the benefits are still more (Dincer, & Ertugra)