Evaluation of submarine tours in Antalya within the scope of special interest tourism

Tourism is one of the sectors in which the positive and negative effects of mass production, mobility and consumption on the world in environmental, economic and social terms are discussed. Product diversification is made to reduce the negative effects of tourism and alternative tourism types are developed. Submarine tourism is one of the types of tourism emerging for underwater cultural and natural attractions within the scope of diversification of marine tourism. Submarine tourism has a history of half a century in the world. On the other hand, the awareness of the tours and the number of initiatives show that this tourism is still in the development stage. There is a potential to increase the share of submarine tourism by applying conscious strategies in destinations where this types is in the development stage. Turkey in 2016 is a new initiative from the tourist submarine operations, since its potential for the future yield of the operations in the periods shown is the importance of the study. The aim of the study; It is the examination of submarine tours within the scope of special interest tourism and touristic product development in Antalya in Turkey for the first time laid the submarine tour in this direction have been investigated as supply-side with local stakeholders. Qualitative research approach was adopted in the study, and the participants were determined with purposeful sampling. The data were collected from 14 local stakeholders in Antalya by interview technique. The obtained data were analyzed with content analysis and coded, sub-themes and 4 main themes were reached. Findings were interpreted in detail in line with these themes. In the study, the environmental damage of submarine tours in Antalya is at the lowest level; It has been concluded that it is evaluated as a supportive tourism product and has a potential and added value with diversification in services and vehicles for both mass and special interest tourism within the scope of tourism product diversification. However, the low level of awareness of submarine tours in Antalya and the necessity of attaching importance to promotion and sales activities constitute another result of the study.