Perceptions of Summer Housekeepers Regarding their Touristic Destination During the Covid-19 Process: The Case of Susanoğlu

Abstract

There are great changes in the world that is experiencing the Covid'19 process. Although the health sector is primarily affected; many sectors such as economy, trade, education and tourism have also taken their share from this process. This study, which is carried out to determine the perceptions of summer residents regarding their touristic destination during the Covid'19 process, is carried out in Susanoğlu, a touristic town of Silifke district of Mersin. With this study, it has been revealed what kind of perceptions, the summer residents who stay in Susanoğlu from time to time, have about the destination they are in during the Covid'19 period. In this direction, content analysis, which is one of the qualitative research methods, is used as a method in the study. With the easily accessible case sampling, face-to-face interviews are held with summer residents in Susanoğlu / Mersin between August and September 2021. QSR Nvivo 12, a computerbased qualitative analysis program, is used to code the data. During the holiday they will spend in Susanoğlu, the visitors are asked questions about the effects of the Covid'19 process on their holidays and the measures taken by the destination in this process. According to the results obtained, it has been determined that in general, summer residents stay more than their main residence addresses during the Covid-19 process compared to the normal process and feel safer because they are calmer than the central settlements. According to the answers given by the summer residents, it was concluded that they were insufficient in complying with the rules regarding the use of masks, hygiene and social distance in general. It has been concluded that social distance rules are not paid enough attention in banks, markets, cafes, restaurants and market places, and partial attention is paid to the beach. In general, when the uneasiness of the summer residents is examined, it has been determined that they do not feel uneasy when entering the sea and on the beach; they feel uneasy while walking outside, in the market, in the market, in the restaurant, in official offices and on the coast.