Kültürel Miras Turizminin Neden Arşivlere İhtiyacı Var?
İshak Keskin, Mehmet Fahri Furat, Ceyhan GülerSomut kültürel miras grubu içinde yer alan arşivler, oluşturuldukları, ait ve ilişkili oldukları toplumlar hakkında -gizemli- tarihi kaynaklara sahip olan kurumlardır. Bu kurumlar; kültürel, bilimsel, teknik, diplomatik, sosyolojik, politik, idari, ticari, askeri, vb. konularda tarihi merakı karşılar. Kısa süreli ziyaretler veya zamana yayılmış araştırma etkinlikleri kültürel merakın giderilmesinde rol oynar. Türkiye’nin sahip olduğu önemli kültürel miraslardan Osmanlı Devleti ve Türkiye Cumhuriyeti dönemlerine ait arşivler, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun egemenliğinde/ sınırları içerisinde yaşamış topluluklar için önemli bir tarihi kaynaktır. Bu çalışmada; kültürel miras turizmi, arşivlerin kültürel miras turizmi için önemi ve Türkiye’nin sahip olduğu arşivlerin kültürel miras turizmi bağlamında işlevi değerlendirilecektir. Bu çalışmanın amacı ise; arşivlerin kültürel miras turizmi için önemine işaret etmek, Türk arşivlerinin kültürel miras turizmine olası/potansiyel katkılarını vurgulamak, karar vericilerin dikkatlerini bu konuya çekmek ve yerli-yabancı kültürel miras turistinin ilgisini Türk arşivlerine yöneltmektir. Bu çalışma hazırlanırken nitel araştırma yönteminden yararlanılmış, veriler metin incelemesi yöntemiyle elde edilmiş, elde edilen veriler söylem analizi ile değerlendirilmiştir.
Why Cultural Heritage Tourism Needs Archives?
İshak Keskin, Mehmet Fahri Furat, Ceyhan GülerArchives as physical manifestations of cultural heritage serve as institutions that contain mysterious historical resources about the societies they are formed in, belong to, and are related to. These institutions satisfy people’s historical curiosity by providing cultural, scientific, technical, diplomatic, sociological, political, administrative, commercial, and military information through both short-term visits and time-consuming research activities. The archives of the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey are important parts of Turkey’s cultural heritage, which also constitutes an important historical resource for communities that lived under Ottoman rule. In this research, we evaluate the importance of archives for cultural heritage tourism and how the Turkish archives function in terms of cultural heritage tourism. This research emphasizes the importance of archives for cultural heritage tourism, focusing on the potential contributions of the Turkish archives to cultural heritage tourism to draw the attention of decision makers to this issue and to direct the interest of domestic and foreign cultural heritage tourists to the Turkish archives. A qualitative research method was used, and data were obtained by textual analysis for evaluation by discourse analysis.
Cultural heritage tourism is an intellectual, eligible, and romantic activity aimed at learning about other cultures and strengthening historical and cultural consciousness. Archives as physical manifestations of cultural heritage also serve as institutions with mysterious historical resources about the societies they are formed in, belong to, and are related to. These institutions satisfy people’s historical curiosity by providing cultural, scientific, technical, diplomatic, sociological, political, administrative, commercial, and military information through shortterm visits and time-consuming research activities. The archives of the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey are important parts of Turkey’s cultural heritage. This cultural heritage also is an important historical resource for communities that lived under Ottoman rule. In this research, we evaluate the importance of archives for cultural heritage tourism and how Turkish archives function in terms of cultural heritage tourism. This research emphasizes the importance of archives for cultural heritage tourism, focusing on the potential contributions of Turkish archives to cultural heritage tourism to draw the attention of decision makers to this issue and to direct the interest of domestic and foreign cultural heritage tourists to the Turkish archives. A qualitative research method was used. The data were obtained by textual analysis for evaluation by discourse analysis. The findings of the study are as follows: The Turkish archives attract few tourists; however, they have the potential to attract more cultural heritage tourists. Archives need to carry out promotional activities at various levels to influence tourists’ behaviors regarding cultural heritage, and it is possible to increase this ratio with well-done promotions. Moreover, archive administrators do not use their full potential for cultural heritage, and decision makers should be informed on this subject. Furthermore, cultural heritage tourists visiting archives bring benefits to local businesses. Finally, the role of archives in national cultural policies should be evaluated. The cultural tourism opportunities of the archives are closely related to tourist marketing activities. Thus, a strong public policy is needed to make the archives a productive tool in the context of cultural heritage tourism. This public policy should consist of the principles of promotion marketing and publication, as well as the dissemination of the language. Archives administrators have records and can introduce the administrative structure of the government departments where these records were produced, making the wealth of archives known. It is important to disseminate the language used in the archival records for visitors. Such activities can play a prominent role in stimulating intellectual interest in archival documents of value while encouraging researchers to make effective and efficient use of archive fonds. For tourism activities designed on the basis of archives to have a certain advantage in the tourism market, complete and accurate marketing activities must be designed, along with promotional marketing and publication strategies, to yield successful results. Such strategies will allow the archives to become a cultural heritage tourism tool to facilitate the evaluation of the visitor capacity of the archives. For this reason, archives, similar to other tourism destinations, should be assessed based on short-, medium-, and long-term tourism policies, and effective strategies should be created for them. It is important for archives to have easily accessible, attractive records that pique visitors’ curiosity, and copy acquisition should be priced appropriately. Democratic practices and freedom of access to archive records are among the most basic conditions for successful marketing. Existing democratic and constitutional practices must have also guaranteed freedom of access for a long time.