Cultural Tourism In Turkey
Have you ever heard cultural tourism or just tourism? I am sure you did. Today tourism is a well-known word but if we had to mention about it briefly; defining of tourism in Wikipedia (2019) is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, entertaining tourists and the business of operating tours. Also, tourism has some types. One of them is cultural tourism. According to IGI-Global (2019), cultural tourism is the journey of people to specific destinations that offer cultural attractions, including historic sites, artistic and cultural events and shows with the aim of acquiring new knowledge and experiences that meet the intellectual needs and individual growth of traveler. According to Gökçe Kıtıroğlu (2019), Turkey's two most popular cultural points are Pamukkale and Ephesus Ancient City.
To begin with, Pamukkale which is noted by Richardson(2015) is white travertine terraces also warm and it is like a lithified waterfall in Turkey's spectacular southwest. Pamukkale means 'Cotton Castle' in Turkish. It is also Turkey's most visited cultural point. It is also a natural masterpiece for that reason people come to see this from all around the world. Tourists mostly coming from European countries and also China, Japan, South Korea with great interest (Nokta Elektronik Medya, 2019). Approximately 1.5 million tourists visit Pamukkale annually but based on last studies of AA. (2018) last year in 11 months, 2 million 50 thousand tourists visited Pamukkale. That was the highest number of tourists in Pamukkale until now. Pamukkale travertines entry cost 25 Turkish liras but if you have a museum card you are lucky you can visit for free (Biz Evde Yokuz, 2018). It is open November- March 6 am- 6.30 pm, April- October 6 am- midnight (Richardson, 2015). To protect this cultural heritage UNESCO take some measures like there is not allowed to build a hotel nearby to travertines. Most of the hotels away from the travertines about 1-2 kilometers (Biz Evde Yokuz, 2018). So we have to protect this inheritance, right?
Another cultural tourism point is Ephesus Ancient City. According to Wikipedia (2019), Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the cost of Iona, three kilometers southwest of present-day Selçuk in Izmir Province, Turkey. It was built the 10th century. Tourists mostly coming from Germany, Holland, England, and France to Ephesus (selcukekspres.com, 2018). Roughly 800.000- 1.000.000 people visit Ephesus in a year (karar.com, 2017). This place worth to see. Boydak noted that (2017) Ephesus Ancient City is open every day of a week. In winter months (3 October- 14 April) it is open 8 am- 5 pm. In summer months (15 April- 2 October) it is open 8 am- 7 pm. Also for the entry you must pay 40 Turkish liras. You can see a lot of structures and ruins of an ancient city.
In conclusion, Pamukkale and Ephesus Ancient City are cultural heritages. These are worth-seeing places not only in Turkey but also all around the world. These two places are in the World Heritage List (UNESCO, 2019). We must aware of the importance of these cultural heritages and do their best to protect them. Protecting them is our main duty to maintain these cultural heritages. Having such important cultural heritages is a great source of pride. I am sure that for centuries these two places will continue to hold on a significant place for Turkey. Franchi (2019) highlights that in this process of globalization, this heritage is a very important element that helps us remember our cultural diversity and develops respect and dialogue between different cultures.
