Evaluation of Turkish stereotypes in foreigners' travel vlogs within the scope of destination image

The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the stereotypes about Turkey presented by vloggers in foreign travel vlogs in terms of destination image. Intercultural communication brings with it a number of positive and negative stereotypes. For a tourism-related economy to be sustainable, it is important that local residents are willing participants in this process. The frequency of interaction between local residents and tourists and the contribution of positive experiences arising from this interaction to the destination image are of critical importance. In this study, the interactions of content creators from different cultures with the local people living in the destinations featured in the videos they posted on YouTube during their travels were evaluated in terms of positive and negative stereotypes and divided into two categories. A total of 10 vlogs were analyzed in the study. The vlogs were examined in terms of intercultural communication, destination image formation, and stereotyping, and their contents were detailed and tabulated. As a result of the evaluation, it was found that positive stereotypes about the local Turkish people were more prominent than negative stereotypes in the vlogs. The tables show that the most common stereotypes about the local Turkish people are adjectives such as "nice," "wonderful," "incredible," and "hospitable." However, although negative stereotypes are mentioned quite rarely in the videos in question, expressions such as "demanding," "patriarchal," and "deceptive" also appear as negative stereotypes. At the end of the study, the vlog analyses are detailed in the results and discussion section, and the necessary recommendations are made.