Examination of visual culture and symbols for faith tourism in Edirne from the perspective of religious officials and tourist guides

Edirne province is an important cultural city with its historical background, geopolitical location and abundance of architectural works. These features of Edirne have made it a center of attraction in terms of tourism. Especially architectural buildings in Edirne are places visited by tourists. The religious places located in these buildings increase the potential of religious tourism in the city. Thus, Edirne province becomes a faith center destination. Buildings such as mosques, churches, synagogues and Baha'i houses in the city are among the places visited by tourists on their routes. It is important to examine the religious places on the faith tourism route in terms of visual culture. Religious places gain meaning with the material or spiritual visual culture symbols they contain and maintain their place in the faith tourism route. In addition to all these, the opinions of sector stakeholders have an important place in the activities to be carried out to accurately determine and increase Edirne's religious tourism potential. Especially the opinions of religious officials and tourist guides in Edirne are an issue that needs to be examined in this context. In this study, first of all, the concept of tourism was examined. Then, the definition and scope of religious tourism, which is a subtype of the concept of tourism, was emphasized. In the second part, the definition and scope of visual culture are mentioned and visual culture symbols are identified in the religious places on Edirne's faith tourism route. In the third part of our study, interviews were held with religious officials and tourist guides working in the city about visual culture symbols in faith tourism centers in Edirne, using a semi structured interview technique. The findings obtained from the open-ended questions asked to the participants in the study were evaluated using the descriptive analysis method. When the data obtained from the research are evaluated holistically, the relationship between the faith tourism potential in Edirne, the opinions of sector stakeholders and visual culture symbols in religious places is clearly revealed. This study is important in that it is the first study in its field to examine Edirne province comprehensively in the context of religious tourism. In our study, although the places on the faith tourism route were identified, the scope of scope was expanded by including the visual culture symbols in these places. Ultimately, interviews with industry stakeholders, religious officials and tourist guides, added originality to our study.