The international tourism market of Van and tourists perception of Van

Prepared as a master thesis this work focuses on detecting the international tourism market of Van and perception of tourists about Van. Cities are in competition with each other in order to develop themselves and to be accepted in international market. One of the main reasons of this competition is to be subject to tourism enough. It is no doubt that in order to have tourists first of all you need to have natural and human attraction reaources and develop correct strategies to commercialize these. It is for this reason that product and market relation has been one the the most the popular (important) topics of tourism researches. In this context this masters's thesis aims to find answers to the questions of tourism resources of Van, tourism market, the profiles of international tourists and how they perceive Van. Being a subject to international tourism since 1970's, although having important tourism attractions (resources), because of wrong decisions of deciders and the insistence on traditional tourism, Van hasn't developed enough. Moreover, there has been a deterioration proportionally. Also, the negativity of natural conditions of the city, the distance from developed regions and cities, the destruction caused by natural disasters (earthquake), insufficient job opportunities, rapid population growth and concequently migration movements outside the province, unfortunately Van consequently hasn't been subject to tourism enough. However, when a city is examined as a whole, it can be seen that a it can develop and progress mostly via tourism. In the first part of this thesis which consists of three parts, the concept of destination is explained. In the second section, tourism infrastructure and tourism attractions of Van province are discussed. In the third part, the findings of the research were evaluated and analyzes were made. It has been detected that most of the tourist who come to Van have come from Iran. The number of people visiting Van from West Europe and Far East (Asia) markets has been declined dramatically. It has been detected that Van is seen as a short period entertainment and recreation place by the international tourists. Van is selected as a transit route for international tourists. Physical and socio-cultural closeness is attractive for tourists but it has been detected that there is a mass of tourist who can not find the entertainment they desire in Van.