The determination of visitors motivation in rural tourism: the case of Gevaş

Rural areas affect tourists and attracts them to visit their unique history which has natural, cultural, and ethnic origin. The rural tourism is based on motivation of nature, culture, history, architecture, traditional lifestyle, tourism and recreational activities in these regions. Rural tourism include natural types of tourism such as agriculture tourism, green tourism, mountain tourism and it is a form of tourism which contains nature trips, adventure, sports, health, art, history and cultural heritage. Many national and international organizations to supply the demands of visitors are to perform a variety of applications for the development of rural tourism. Thus, trying to ensure the satisfaction of visitors and intended to make rural communites to participate in the development of rural tourism. The primary purpose of this study was to segment and profile the needs of rural tourist, so as to provide a better understanding of rural tourism in Turkey. In this context, visitors' motivation factors was identifed and visitors who visited Gevaş County was defined by these factors are divided into clusters. 394 survey was obtained by face to face interviews in the Gevaş County and four useful clusters were identified. These four clusters have emerged as nature relaxers, local culture callers, authenticity and adventure caller and want-it-all. The visitors in these clusters vary depending on their motivation, travel behavior, activities and demographic data. Keywords: Rural tourism, Gevaş, Visitors motivation.