Ancient baths in Anatolia as a narrative suggestion to tour guides

Among the ancient cities, which are one of the main attractions of cultural tourism, one of the elements that best convey the spirit and mindset of the city to us is the bath structures. Understanding the architectural features of these structures as well as their interaction with the society of the period and their place in daily life is an important step in understanding these societies. At this point, professional tourist guides have an important role both as one of the most important stakeholders of the tourism sector and as representatives of cultural heritage. In this study, it is aimed to understand how professional tourist guides convey these structures and to offer suggestions for improving these narratives and increasing the touristic attractiveness of bath structures. In this direction, how the ancient bath complexes within the borders of Anatolia affected the social, economic and political structure of the period and how these cultural structures are conveyed by tourist guides, who are an important part of tourism, are discussed with a phenomenological approach. The findings were interpreted and visualized through both content analysis and descriptive analysis. According to the findings, it has been determined that the ancient baths have a great potential in terms of the protection of cultural heritage and the development of cultural tourism, and that tourist guides play a fundamental role in the promotion of these areas, but that important steps should be taken in both guidance and management to ensure the sustainability of these structures and to increase their touristic attractiveness.