Research Information System
International Congress of Tourism and Cultural Heritage, Muğla, Turkey, 5 October - 08 November 2017, pp.1, (Full Text)
One of the strongest factors in the commercialization of cultural and archeological record is the growing role of tourism in the world economy. The idea that assessing and protecting the Cultural and historical areas of countries, has been accepted by both local people and public authorities. The cultural archeological past, represented both in reconstructed sites open to the public and as a design motif for modern vacation environments, is fundamentally implicated in the tourism industry and plays a role in the differentiation of the region. Ani ruins, the first meeting point of Turkish-Islamic and Armenian, Georgian-Christian cultures, is a symbol of cultural diversity. Because of this role, the Ani Ruins, the jewel of the Armenian architecture, was included in the World Heritage List in 2016. This study discusses some of the challenges in protecting and developing cultural tourism assets as products by using Ani Ruins as a case study. Within the scope of the study, an open-ended questionnaire was developed to interview the local stakeholders, visitors and local residents’ about the effect of the Ani Ruins as the driving force of local development as well as understanding the local peoples’ perception on heritage tourism has been investigated. In conclusion, this study argued that despite its importance, iconic heritage status, Ani ruins is seemingly failing to attract enough local visitors or tourists.