The effect of the cultural mediative and interpretative role of the tourist guides towards tourists recommend and re-visit intensions within the scope of intangible cultural heritage elements: A research on Bursa province

Cultural heritage includes not only tangible elements such as monuments, sites or building groups that societies have created within the scope of the socio-economic conditions of the period they have lived in, but also intangible values such as handicrafts, feasts, rituals, performing arts and various social practices that societies have continued. Intangible cultural heritage elements can be considered as values that reflect the unique cultural characteristics and identities of individuals, communities and nations. Intangible cultural heritage values, especially in recent years, can provide a differentiated and attractive touristic product to countries or regions and provide a global competitive power, in line with the trend towards alternative tourism. Tourist guides also play important roles in transferring, experiencing and ensuring the preservation and sustainability of these elements. At the same time, it is thought that the roles played by tourist guides in understanding and raising awareness of intangible cultural heritage values have a significant impact on the behavioral intentions of tourists. In this context, the aim of the research is to determine the effect of the cultural mediator and interpreter role of tourist guides in experiencing intangible cultural heritage elements on tourists' tendency to recommend and revisit. In the research, firstly, the concept of intangible cultural heritage, the relevant convention, statistics and information about the elements registered in the World and Turkey lists were mentioned and their evaluations in terms of cultural tourism were discussed. In the section related to tourist guiding, various definitions and information about the roles attributed to tourist guides in the literature were included and their importance in terms of tourism was mentioned. In the relevant literature section, previous studies conducted within the scope of the research on intangible cultural heritage, tourist guiding and behavioral intentions were stated. The data of the research were obtained from 411 people who experienced the intangible cultural heritage elements of Bursa province with a guided tour. These data were obtained in October and November 2024. Convenience sampling method was used in the research; SPSS 21 program was used in frequency, difference, regression and correlation analyses. According to the results of the research, it was determined that the cultural mediator and interpreter role of tourist guides had positive and significant effects on tourist recommendation and revisit intentions. Keywords: Intangible Cultural Heritage, The Roles of Tourist Guides, Intention to Recommend, Revisit Intention, Bursa