Bringing Antandros Ancient City to Cultural Tourism: A Qualitative Research

Abstract

Cultural tourists visit archaeological sites to see artifacts from past civilizations. Therefore, cultural tourism has a great importance in bringing a destination to tourism. Although Antandros Antique City, located in the foothills of Kazdağı in the province of Balıkesir, is considered to be one of the most important cultural assets of the region, it is not recognized and visited in the context of cultural tourism. In this context, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the opinions of stakeholders in bringing Antandros Antique City in cultural tourism. Within the scope of this aim, qualitative research method and explorary research design are preferred in the research and descriptive analysis is carried out. Six main categories and sixteen sub-categories are determined in the study. It is especially emphasized these issues such as the strategic position of the city, association and local government support, lack of archaeological site, continued land expropriation, work and efforts of the excavation team and lack of publicity. In addition, it was emphasized by the stakeholders that Antandros Ancient City will contribute to the tourism activities of the region in the future.