Evaluation with some variables of anxiety levels of domestic and foreign tourists practicing diving sports

ABSTRACT Evaluation with Some Variables of Anxiety Levels of Domestic and Foreign Tourists Practicing Diving Sports Aim: This research seeks to address according to some variants to the issue of state and trait anxiety level of domestic and foreign tourists who did scuba diving for the first time. Material and Method: In this research, qualitative research method was adopted and relational screening model has been used. 65 foreign (English) and 65 domestic tourists (130 in sum) who did scuba diving for the first time in summer of 2014-2015 in Dalyan Bay of Fethiye, Muğla have participated in this research. Results: In this research, it was found thtat domestic tourists who do not go in for any kind of sportive activities, who do not watch any documentaries about diving and who do not know any certified divers came out to have higher state anxiety level; domestic tourists who do not read about diving turned out to have higher state and trait anxiety levels. On the other hand, foreign tourists who above 45 years of age, who has child and who do not any extreme sports came out to have higher state anxiety level; foreign tourists who has monthly income less than 3001$ turned out to have higher state and trait anxiety levels. Moreover, correlation coefficient and significance level between state and trait anxiety levels of domestic tourists were found to be r=0.552 and p=0.00. Conclusion: In the light of the research, while variants such as going in for any kind of sportive activities, watching any documentaries about under water environment and knowing certified divers have been found to affect state anxiety levels of domestic tourists, and variant of reading about diving on their state and trait anxiety levels. On the other hand, variants such as age, having children, and doing extreme sports have been found to affect state anxiety levels of foreign tourists, and their monthly income on their state and trait anxiety levels. Also, there appears to be a positive correlation between trait and state anxiety scores of domestic tourists. Key Words: Sports, tourism, diving, anxiety.