The Importance of Traditional Winter Sports in Maintaining Our Concrete Cultural Heritage; Example of Kastamonu Ağlı Slogle (Kayık) Races

Abstract

Culture is the totality of material and immaterial values created by human beings in the process of historical and social development. These values include both the tools used in their creation and the processes of transferring them to the next generations, and at the same time represent the measure of human sovereignty over the natural and social environment. The main purpose of this research is to emphasize the importance of tangible cultural heritage in terms of winter tourism and especially to evaluate the traditional sled races organized traditionally in Ağlı district of Kastamonu province as a traditional winter sports tourism product. In addition, this study aims to investigate the cultural elements that are disappearing over time and to examine how these elements can enrich the winter tourism product from a sustainability perspective. In this context, the cultural significance of traditional winter sports and the status of cultural elements in existing winter tourism products are the focal points of the study. When considering the role of cultural assets in winter tourism, this study provides an important context by covering the different objectives set out in the 2023 Tourism Strategy with the potential to relate and address these objectives together. In line with the results obtained, it is aimed to provide new suggestions on the evaluation of traditional winter sports and cultural elements, transforming them into a touristic product or using them as elements that enrich the winter tourism product in a way to contribute to the deficiencies in the literature. One of the factors that are effective in the emergence of sled races is that local people cannot engage in economic activities due to climatic and geographical conditions during the winter months, and in this process, they combine sports and entertainment as a social activity. This study is supported by field research data.