Geographic marketing in tourism: Kars- Ani Ruins

Over the last four decades, geographical marketing has emerged, a new type of marketing that enables the efficient handling of information, along with the development of tools that facilitate the storage, protection, use, and analysis of geographic information. With geographical marketing, businesses can reach their consumers more successfully than their competitors by developing more effective marketing mix by obtaining more accurate information about the targeted markets. There are not many studies about the marketing of any tourist destination (touristic region) through geographical marketing in our country. The purpose of this study is to deal with the issue of geographical marketing in tourism in tems of Kars Ani Ruins and contribute related literature. The study was conducted by applying a questionnaire to 432 participants who visited the Kars Ani Ruins which was included in World Heritage List at the 40 th UNESCO World Heritage Committee Meeting, which was held in Istanbul on 10-20 July 2016. The vast majority of participants state that they are happy to visit Kars Ani Ruins, that Kars Ani Ruins have a tourism image, that Kars Ani Ruins are a touristic attraction center and they are influenced by social media and circle of their friends while making their vacation plans. However, a large majority of the participants also stated that the national and international presentation of the Kars Ani Ruins is inadequate, that there are infrastructure and superstructure problems, that the physical facilities of the facilities in Kars Ani Ruins Region are insufficient and that the personnel working in Kars Ani Ruins do not have sufficient equipment.