THE IMPORTANCE OF INTANGIBLE AND TANGIBLE RESOURCES IN CHOOSING A TOURISM DESTINATION: CASE OF ISTANBUL

Presented by: Yasemin Aksoy & Gnce Malan & Nee Roman

Moderator: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maria Dolores Alvarez

Table of Contents
1. Introduction 2. Conceptual Model 3. Methodology and Research Design 4. Findings

Profile of the sample Descriptive Statistics Analyses

5. Limitations 6. Implications (Theoretical & Managerial) 7. Further Research

Why did we make this research?

To investigate the importance of intangible and tangible resources in choosing Istanbul as a tourism d alk destination. Could we distinguish tangible and intangible resources?

Which resources are the most important determinant factors in choosing Istanbul as a tourism destination?

Literature

The reasons for the visit of a specific place could be: Experience the location , Cognitive distance, Cuisine, language, daily life Functions and facilities, Geographical features, Cultural inheritance, etc (Pearce, 1993)

Literature

Destination Image influenced by such as: Books, novels, Movies,TV, Newspaper reports, Researches about destination, Word of mouth (Gun, 1988).

Resources of a destination

Intangible resources :Destinations intangible resources that have intrinsic productive values that are used to describe aesthetic, spiritual, symbolic or other social values people may associate with a site (ICOMOS, 2008). Tangible resources: Another important part of destination resources is tangible resources that are having actual physical existence (ICOMOS, 2008). They are two sides of the same coin, both carry meaning and helping store in memory of humanitys past. Furthermore, both tangible and intangible resources rely on each other when it comes to understand meanings and importance of each individually (ICOMOS, 2008).

Research Question

Which resources both tangible and intangible are most important for European tourists in choosing stanbul as a tourism destination? Is there a relationship between personal factors and the importance given by the tourists to tangible and intangible resources in choosing Istanbul as a tourism destination?

Broad Conceptual Model

Personal Factors

Importance Given To Tangible and Intangible Resources

Destination Choice

Research Design

Problem Statement

Population and Sampling

Population: European (UK, Germany, Spain, France) Leisure Tourists visiting stanbul

Questionnaire in Sultanahmet Nonprobability Quota Sampling Sample Size: 200 (50 individual from each subgroup)

Demographic Profile of the Respondents (N=200)

Variables First Visit Gender Marital status Yes No Male Female Single Married Widowed Divorced Less than 20 21-35 36-50 51-65 Over 65 Percentages 72,5 27,5 46,5 53,5 46 33 16,5 4,5 9,5 51 27 8,5 4

Age

Demographic Profile of the Respondents (N=200)

Variables Education High school or less University Postgraduate degree Other Less than - 15,000 15,001 - 30,000 30,001 - 50,000 50,001 - 75,000 75,001 - 100,000 More than - 100,000 Percentages 10 72,5 15,5 2 3,5 9 24 39 16,5 8

Net annual family income

Descriptive Statistics of Variables

Importance of resources in choosing stanbul Cronbach's Alpha= 0,71 Variables Mean 1 Bosphorus 1,690 2 Cuisine 1,795 3 Old palaces and 1,855 fortress 4 Historical buildings 1,880 5 Architecture 1,915 6 Dining facilities 2,005 7 Well-known roads 2,050 8 Accommodation 2,080 9 Handicrafts 2,085 10 Hammams and baths 2,110 11 Shopping facility 2,150 12 Museums 2,155 13 Bazaars 2,305 14 Souvenirs 2,310 15 Art 2,345 Std. Deviation 0,921 0,841 0,786 0,806 0,955 1,005 1,016 1,192 0,895 1,041 1,079 1,071 1,018 1,014 0,965

The perceived usefulness of the sources was measured on a 5-point scale (1= very important 5 = very unimportant)

Descriptive Statistics of Variables

Importance of resources in choosing stanbul Variables 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
*

Mean 2,425 2,535 2,610 2,665 2,935 2,960 3,095 3,160 3,165 3,175 3,215 3,260 3,370 3,410 3,540 3,730 3,840

Std. Deviation 1,196 0,956 1,206 1,225 1,085 1,097 0,97 1,109 1,275 1,316 1,272 0,978 1,14 1,062 1,097 1,263 1,301

Religious places Traditions Nightclubs Nightlife Festivals Music Films Legend Smellscape Dances Religion Books and poems Songs Soundscape Language Libraries Traditional dress

The perceived usefulness of the sources was measured on a 5-point scale (1= very important 5 = very unimportant)

Nationality Differences

Atmosphere of the city Museums Smellscape Traditions Libraries Music Songs Souvenirs Handicrafts Religious places Architecture Religion Hamams and baths

French people give more importance to these resources in comparison to other nationalities.

Education Level

Old Palaces and Fortress - Post graduate F: 4,221 Sig: 0,00 Architecture - Post graduate F: 4,649 Sig: 0,00 Historical Buildings - Post graduate F: 3,998 Sig: 0,00 Shopping Facilities - Post graduate F: 3,436 Sig: 0,01 Traditions - Post graduate F: 3,128 Sig: 0,01 Dance - Post graduate F: 3,264 Sig: 0,02 Souvenirs - Post graduate F: 3,345 Sig: 0,02 Smellscape University F: 3,401 Sig: 0,01 Music- University F: 3,163 Sig: 0,02

Age

Nightclubs - for over 51, less important factor F: 16,508 Sig: 0,00 Nightlife - for over 51, less important factor F: 17,23 Sig: 0,00 Museums - 51 and over, the most important F: 5,303 Sig: 0,00 Films - for over 65, less important factor F: 2,900 Sig: 0,002 Old Palaces and Fortresses- for under 20 less important factor F: 3,759 Sig: 0,00 Architecture - for under 20 less important factor F: 2,716 Sig: 0,03

Gender

Dining facilities Male t: 4,069 Sig: 0,04 Legends Female t: 7,227 Sig: 0,01 Souvenirs Female t: 8,417 Sig: 0,00

Previous visit

Festivals- First visit t: 4,147 Sig: 0,04 Historical buildings First visit t: 6,203 Sig: 0,01 Old palaces and fortresses First visit t: 8,288 Sig: 0,00 Art Previous visit t: 4,080 Sig: 0,02

Marital Status and Income Level

There is no significant difference among the groups.

Analysis

Factor Analysis

Sample Adequacy
KMO and Bartlett's Test Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square ,604 2331,493

df Sig.

528 ,000

Variables / Commonalities Atmosphere of the city Accommodation Cuisine Dining facilities Language Smellscape Soundscape Legend Traditions Bazaars Festivals Nightlife Nightclubs Films Books and poems Museums Libraries Art Music Songs Souveniers Handicrafts Well-known roads Religious places Historical buildings Old palaces and portress Architecture Religion Shopping facility Dances Bosphorus

Extraction ,604 ,714 ,790 ,769 ,447 ,863 ,861 ,603 ,683 ,665 ,659 ,845 ,811 ,727 ,708 ,689 ,530 ,653 ,595 ,751 ,735 ,636 ,579 ,679 ,697 ,759 ,696 ,686 ,375 ,559 ,581

Rotated Component Matrix / Varimax Rotation Variables 1 Old palaces and fortress Historical buildings Architecture Religious places Atmosphere of the city Religion Libraries Bosphorus Nightlife Nightclubs Museums Art Traditions Festivals Cuisine Dining facilities Accommodation Soundscape Smellscape Souveniers Hammams and baths Handicrafts Traditional dress Dances Songs Books and poems Music Bazaars Legend Films Well-known roads Total ,816 ,749 ,606

10

11

Historical places

Cronbach's Alpha ,731

,653 ,646 ,617 ,482 -,458

Intangible and tangible aspects

,209

,896 ,877

Entertainment ,734 Cultural activities ,731 ,491 ,431 ,832 Tourism services ,831 ,639 ,921 Feeling of the city ,876 ,740 Antiques ,640 ,598 ,697 Traditions ,628 ,791 Literature ,567 ,462 ,779 ,626 ,825 ,459

,894 ,584

,679

,835 ,596

,456 ,613

,470 ,332 6,399

Limitations

Target: Only European Tourists Nonprobability Sampling Location: Sultanahmet District Season: Spring- April The survey was found to be long.

Theoretical Implications

They are two sides of the same coin, both carry meaning and help store in memory of humanitys past. Furthermore, both tangible and intangible resources rely on each other when it comes to understand meanings and importance of each individually (ICOMOS, 2008). According to grouping of the variables from the analysis, it is not possible to distinguish between tangible and intangible resources.

The tangible can only be understood and interpreted through the intangible (Smith, 2006). While considering the importance of tangible resources, the intangible ones support cultural identity and desirability of its preservation to recognize cultural diversity from the perception of tourists (Smith, 2006).

Managerial Implications

Bosphorus scene, cuisine, old palaces and fortresses, historical buildings and architecture are very important factors in terms of choosing Istanbul as a tourism destination. These first five important factors give us clue on how to promote Istanbul. When it comes to demographic factors, according to the results, except the marital status and income level, there is a significant difference among age groups, nationality, gender, first visit and educational level. From previous visit , the findings show that tourists who have visited Istanbul for first time, want to visit old palaces and fortresses and historical buildings and festivals. However, if it is their second or third visit, the t test analysis indicates that there is a tendency towards art.

Further Research

This research may be done including all purposes of the travel. The research may be done for more nationalities, for example Chinese tourists as a growing market. The research could also cover people who have not come to Istanbul yet. Confirmatory factor analysis may be used to confirm the dimensions of the scale.

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