Assesment of cultural heritage tourism in Phrygia

Recent studies have revealed the importance of cultural heritage preservation. When relevant literature is reviewed, it is seen that not only the preservation of cultural heritage, but its utilization for tourism purposes has been subject to many studies. In these studies, ensuring the protection-utilization balance would be possible with an attentive management strategy is emphasized. Each cultural heritage and its generation of tourist attraction has unique conditions, and that requires managerial perspective should be unique for the considered heritage. The aim of this study is to create a cultural heritage model according to the needs of the region for developing cultural heritage tourism successfully in Phrygia. Within the scope of this study, data was collected through in-depth interviews from local residents, central and local administrators, and visitors. Data was evaluated in accordance with the information compiled from the literature review. A unique five-step cultural heritage model for Phrygia was developed utilizing the existing cultural heritage improvement models. Participants were consulted about the actions to be taken in order to improve cultural heritage tourism in the region with the interviews conducted in the cities of Afyonkarahisar, Eskisehir and Kutahya. The results of the study show that these three group of participants agree on the shortcomings of the region and that the model proposed in this study will contribute to the development of cultural heritage tourism. Keywords: Phrygia, Cultural Heritage, Tourism