Evaluation of Faith Tourism Potential of Eskişehir Province from the Perspective of Tour Guides

Eskisehir was one of the important industrial cities of Turkey, but in recent years it has become a touristic centre with the efforts of the local administration. There are mosques, masjids, tombs, complexes, churches, shrines, cemeteries, and necropolises throughout Eskişehir. There are also artifacts belonging to different religions. Different cultural and religious buildings in cities are among the important attraction centers of the tourism sector.  It is thought that domestic tourists coming to Eskişehir, which has been at the forefront of city tourism in recent years, with package tours organized in Eskişehir, do not know the belief centers sufficiently. The importance of tour guides in promoting the destination and informing tourists is an indisputable fact. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the faith tourism potential of Eskişehir province from the perspective of tour guides. The sub-objectives of the study are to determine whether the demand for faith tourism in Eskişehir province and the tour programs in Eskişehir are sufficient for faith routes, to reveal whether the faith centers in Eskişehir are sufficiently promoted, to determine what can be done to include these centers in the tour programs and to determine the necessary tasks to increase the potential of Eskişehir's faith centers. In this study, in which qualitative research method was adopted, the views of tour guides, who are effective in the development of tourism and promotion of the destination, were consulted and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 people working as tour guides in Eskişehir province. The data obtained from the interviews were transferred to the qualitative data analysis program MAXQDA and content analysis was performed. As a result of the study, it was determined that Eskişehir stands out with its city tourism, but has the potential for religious tourism, but its promotion in this regard is insufficient, especially Kurşunlu Complex, Seyit Battal Gazi Complex and Sivrihisar Great Mosque can be evaluated within the scope of religious tourism. It is thought that this study will contribute to the promotion of Eskişehir tourism and faith tourism routes and fill the relevant gap in the tour guiding literature.

Keywords: Faith centers, Faith tourism, Tour guides, Eskişehir.