Evaluation of Boutique Hotels in the Context of Luxury Tourism: The Case of Cappadocia

Abstract

Cappadocia is an important destination for luxury tourism activities with its fairy chimneys, settlements created by carving natural rocks and its authentic atmosphere, which are on the UNESCO world heritage list. In the research, it is aimed to determine the perceptions of foreign tourists visiting luxury cave hotels, which are among the world heritage sites in the Cappadocia Region, about the hotels. The sample of the research consists of 3430 English comments of the 14 best luxury cave hotels operating in Cappadocia, determined by the TripAdvisor website in 2021. The research data were analyzed using the topic extraction technique, which is one of the text mining methods. According to the research findings; While describing their unique experiences in cave hotels, the tourists mentioned the valley, hot air balloon rides and fairy chimneys in order of importance in terms of physical environment. They mentioned the fireplaces, modern facilities (bathrooms, beds, rock rooms), helpful staff, wine cellars, dinner in the hotels in terms of product services offered in the hotels. They also stated that they intend to recommend their hotel experience to others and that they feel at home in hotels.