Evaluation of Silifke in terms of cultural tourism potential

Silifke has a rich cultural and historical infrastructure. Although there are natural beauties to support this, the district does not receive the attention it deserves. It is an important problem whether to reveal the tangible and intangible cultural values of Silifke and not to make a comprehensive planning. In the research, it is aimed to examine the views of the participants in Silifke District of Mersin province in terms of the cultural and tourism potential of Silifke district. Phenomenological research design, one of the qualitative research designs, was used in the research. The study group of the research consists of 35 participants from the local people residing in Silifke district, who voluntarily participated in the research in January and February 2023. In the inclusion of the participants in the research, attention was paid to the fact that they had a life in Silifke, lived in the district for many years or worked in the administrative units of the district. In the study, an interview form developed by the researcher and created in line with expert opinions was used as a data collection tool. In the interview form, seven questions about revealing the cultural and tourism potential of Silifke district were included. Qualitative data analysis methods were used in the analysis of the research data. In this context, first of all, the data were categorized according to the questions in the interview form. As a result of the arrangement of the data, the data obtained from 35 participants for each question was coded. Depending on the content of the problem, different encodings have emerged. In this context, the data were analyzed with the content analysis technique. In the research, it was determined that Silifke has a rich tourism potential that includes historical, geographical and cultural features. It has been determined that features such as culture, history and archeology are important in the perceptions of Silifke as a culture and tourism center, and historical structures such as yoghurt, Göksu delta, Yoruk culture and temples are the prominent strengths in terms of culture and tourism. It has been understood that these features, which are negligence, unconsciousness and time, cannot be used sufficiently and cannot reflect wealth. In this context, local people, administrators and researchers have important responsibilities in terms of tourists' preference for Silifke.