Contribution of green spaces to urban tourism in the case of Antalya City

The expectations of people of different ages and cultures participating in the tourism activity are changing day by day, leading the sector to new quests and as a result, alternative tourism activities gain importance. In this context, urban tourism, which includes short-term visits to cities with social, cultural and artistic purposes as an alternative to mass tourism based on the common sea-sand-sun holiday concept, has begun to come to the forefront. Elements of attraction in cities are an effective element in the emergence of urban tourism. Urban open and green spaces have an important role in these elements. The aim of this thesis is to determine the contribution of open green areas of Antalya, which is considered as the capital of Turkish tourism, to urban tourism. For this purpose, Antalya city was chosen as a research area and it was tried to measure the power of influencing the preference of the green areas of the city with the questionnaire survey with local and foreign tourists who visited the city. According to the results obtained, 31.6% stated that the information about urban green spaces affected the travel decision. 41.2% of the respondents stated that they did not find any information about the green spaces of the city. It is understood that there is not enough publicity about the green spaces of the city and it is not used effectively in the branding process of the city. It is seen that information about the green spaces of the city of Antalya, which is one of the greenest cities in the country, is not done sufficiently in the corporate web pages and promotional brochures that are important in the promotion of the city. However, special web sites provide more information about the city's green spaces. According to the results of the research, it is realized that the brand value of the Antalya destination is very low in marketing skills and urban tourism. Therefore, branding activities in tourism need to be realized by investing in the invisible values of the brand, rather than the visible. In this respect, the open and green spaces, which are important elements that will add value to the city, should be included in the city promotions and festivals etc to be realized in these areas as tourist attractions and tourism should be diversified with activities.