The Perception of Domestic Tourists Regarding Eskisehir’s Cultural Tourism

Abstract

The reasons why cultural tourism in 1980’s has been improved are; the increasing number
of cultural tourists all over the world who is described as qualified tourist and the potential of
cultural tourism of the countries. Turkey is prosperous in cultural tourism. Its natural beauty
and countless historical and cultural pieces which are lasted until today have contributed to that
prosperousness. Eskişehir is among these cities which are sharing this cultural richness. In this
study, the aim is to specify the tourists who came to Eskişehir and their perception of how they
benefited from the town’s cultural tourism potential and its quality and their perception
regarding Eskişehir. This study is important for Eskişehir with its potential of be called a
culture town in the future. The data of research compiled with the questionnaire made with 387
domestic tourists who came to Odunpazarı archeological site, Kentpark, Sazova Science and
Art Park and Seyitgazi county center. The data resulting from the questionnaire has been
analyzed in the SPSS12.0 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) program. For the purpose of
analyzing the relevance inter-factors in the data the Chi-square test (x2) has been used and for
analyzing the difference among the groups, the independent sample T-test in parametrical
analyze techniques and simplex ANOVA test is used. The findings obtained shows that the
tourists visiting Eskişehir are nominally at the age group of young and middle age, got higher
education and at middle income level. At the last section of the study, the research findings
are interpreted and the suggestions are made about the subject.