The place of thermal tourism in destination marketing: The case of Kutahya

The tourism sector in Turkey stands out as a rapidly evolving sector. Turkey has a very high potential for its tourist product diversity. Tourists seek information about their destination before they travel and decide accordingly. Tourism activities in the Destinations affect the selection of tourists. The features of the Destinations are key to marketing the destination and increasing the demand for the destination. Turkey is a very rich country in terms of thermal resources. For many reasons, recent periods have seen a significant increase in demand especially for thermal tourism. In this respect, thermal tourism is a key place for the marketing of destinations. In this context, the study was made to understand and evaluate the current thermal tourism potential, how it is benefited and how it should be utilized in the marketing of destination, and how experts in the thermal tourism industry approach to the role of thermal tourism in the destination marketing. The fact that it is one of the first works on the subject in the province of Kutahya makes this work important. In this study, the qualitative research method, interview method, was implemented. In the study, a fully structured conversation is preferred from the types of conversations. A meeting was held with 12 hotel managers who served in thermal tourism facilities in Kutahya. The descriptive analysis method is used in the analysis of the data obtained. As a result of the analysis, the quality service needs to be maintained in order to ensure continued thermal tourism, where Kutahya has rich thermal resources, is poor advertising and publicity, thermal resources are a destination attractiveness feature, thermal resources are highlighted by healing, and public and local governments in the province have little support for the marketing of Destination. Keywords: Destinations Marketing, Destinations, Kütahya, Thermal Tourism