Assessment of the Touristic Activities Conducted by Couchsurfing Participants in Terms of Their Relevance to Slow Tourism Criteria

Especially lately, it is quite apparent that tourists are adopting a slow life style.  The couchsurfing (CS) social network creates an environment that is socially, culturally and environmentally interactive and enables travellers from different cultures to come together. This study examines CS’s members travel behaviour within the context of slow tourism. The data were gathered through a survey technique, one of the common quantitative research methods, and analyzed with the SPSS 20.0 Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The results show that the general slow tourism level (=3. 31) of the participants is around 3 points, which is a medium level. When arithmetic average figures regarding the sub-dimensions of slow tourism are analyzed, average points for  “slowness” and “emotion” are higher than other aspects, which are  =3.31 and  =3.26 respectively. It has not been found another study regarding CS’s members travel behaviour within the context of slow tourism in the literature. Therefore the results of this study have not been compared with another study results. The entire universe could not be reached because of the number of people constituting the universe is greater than ten thousand and time constraints. Therefore sampling method was used. Although the survey sent to 1700 CS members, 180 questionnaires were collected. In this study participants’ slow tourism behaviors according to place living in and to preferred place is studied. However participants’ slow tourism behaviors according to the nationality is not studied. In future studies, if participants’ slow tourism behaviors according to the nationality will examination, literature would be made an important contribution. In addition, there are millions of CS members all over the world. This study is seen that the general slow tourism ( =3,02) values of the CS participants that are approximately 3 points the middle value. Therefore if local governments will focus slow tourism activities in the destination, especially for slowness dimension, it will be effective to attract CS members to the destination. Keywords: couchsurfing; slowness; cultural interaction; slow tourism; accommodatio

The effect of plate presentation on the acceptance of bad-looking foods: Şırdan example

Bu çalışma, görünümü sebebiyle tüketimi tercih edilmeyen yemeklerin estetik değeri bulunan sunumlar yoluyla kabulünün artırılmasını ele almaktadır. Bu kapsamda kötü görünümlü yemekleri temsilen şırdan dolması, yenilikçi sunum teknikleri kullanılarak 5 farklı şekilde sunulmuştur. Sunumların değerlendirilmesi amacıyla hazırlanan anket formu, Türk tüketicilere çevrimiçi olarak iletilmiştir. Araştırma kapsamında hazırlanan 5 sunum özelinde renk, görsel doku, şekil ve genel sunum (komposizyon) parametreleri belirlenerek beğeni testi uygulanmıştır. Şırdan dolmasını görsel özelliklerinden dolayı tüketmek istemediğini ifade eden 215 katılımcıdan elde edilen veriler sonucunda, şırdan dolmasının bütün halde sunulmasının beğeni puanını olumsuz etkilediği ve şırdandan alınan kesitlerin yatay sunumunun tüm parametreler bazında daha fazla beğeni puanı aldığı tespit edilmiştir. Bunun yanı sıra şırdan dolmasına yönelik en fazla beğeni toplayan tabakların sunumları incelendiğinde, renk çeşitliliği ve canlı renk kullanımı, sos veya baharat kullanımı, şırdan dolması miktarı, tabak doluluk oranı ve tabağın odak noktasının şırdan dolması olmaması gibi unsurların etkili olduğu dikkat çekmiştir. Araştırma bulgularından hareketle, şırdan dolması ve temsil ettiği yiyeceklerin yenilikçi sunum teknikleriyle tüketici nezdinde kabul görme oranının artırılabileceğine ve görsel manipülasyonun tüketici tercihlerinde sahip olduğu etkiye yönelik önemli sonuçlara ulaşılmıştır.This study examines the effect of food, which is thought to have a negative impact on consumption due to its appearance, on its acceptance by creating presentations with aesthetic value. In this context şırdan, representing bad-looking dishes, is discussed. In the study, 5 different şırdan presentations were prepared using modernist presentation techniques. The form containing the presentations was sent online to consumers living in Turkey. Color, visual texture, shape and general presentation (composition) parameters were determined for 5 presentations prepared within the scope of the research, and an appreciation test was applied. As a result of the data obtained from 215 participants who stated that they did not want to consume şırdan, it was determined that the presentation of whole şırdan affected the appreciation score negatively, and the horizontal presentation of the sections taken from the şırdan received more appreciation points on the basis of all parameters. In addition, when the presentations of the dishes that received the most appreciation in the presentation of şırdan were examined, factors such as the variety of colors and the use of vibrant colors, the use of sauces or spices, the amount of şırdan filling, the plate fullness, and the fact that the focus of the plate was not filled with şırdan, drew attention. Based on the research findings, it was concluded that the rate of acceptance by the consumer can be increased with the modernist presentation techniques of şırdan and the bad-looking foods it represents, and that visual manipulation has a significant effect

Bibliometric analysis of rural tourism on tourism literatureTurizm literatüründe kırsal turizmin bibliyometrik analizi

Because rural life and rural values that become important again in recent years, it has been quite necessary to examine the development of rural by the conceptual sense. Both the world and Turkey hosts qualitatively and quantitatively important rural areas that worth conceptual and practical examining. The scope of this paper contains a comprehensive review of literature on academic research in this field of research and this paper aims to be effective in realization of rural tourism development. In this study, it was aimed to reveal the characteristics of national and international academic studies on rural tourism in a general point of view. In the literature review, more than 400 national and international academic studies were accessed. The study was carried out during the first four months of the year 2016 in reviewable scientific resources by utilizing the scientific resources published in Turkey and abroad. As the result of this conducted study, it was observed that the history of academic studies on rural tourism dates back to twenty years approximately. The studies which were not frequent in the beginning, showed increase as the rural tourism started to become popular. Although nature and rural elements are one of the main factors of tourism sector, it can be evaluated as a considerable deficiency of tourism literature that the studies in this type of tourism has only increased in recent years. It was remarkable in the reports that general topics were handled in terms of conceptual aspect, however, a tendency towards specific topics were as well observed in recent years. When theses of the literature are reviewed, it was seen that national theses are the most frequent ones in this field. No academic educational program on rural tourism was found in Turkey, however, graduate programs for this field are also not widespread in international area. ÖzetKırsal yaşam ve kırsal değerlerin tekrar önemli hale geldiği son yıllarda, turizm faaliyetlerinin popülerliğinin de yardımıyla ortaya çıkan kırsal turizm olgusunun, kavramsal anlamdaki gelişiminin incelenmesi oldukça gereklidir. Gerek dünyada, gerekse de nitelik ve nicelik olarak önemli kırsal alanları içerisinde barındıran Türkiye’de, son yıllarda bu alanda yapılan akademik araştırmalara ilişkin yazın taramasını içeren bu çalışma, kırsal turizm gelişmesinde etkili olabilecek araştırmaların gerçekleştirilebilmesi ve geliştirilebilmesi için önemli bir analizin sonuçlarını yansıtmaktadır. Bu çalışmada da kırsal turizm konusundaki ulusal ve uluslararası akademik çalışmaların özelliklerini genel bir bakış açısıyla ortaya koymak amaçlanmıştır. Araştırmada kullanılan nitel yöntem (yazın taraması) ile ulusal ve uluslararası 400’den fazla akademik çalışmaya ulaşılmıştır. Çalışma, 2016 yılının ilk dört ayı boyunca, çevrimiçi olarak taranabilen veri tabanlarında, yurt içi ve yurt dışında yayınlanan bilimsel kaynaklardan faydalanılarak oluşturulmuştur. Çalışma sonucunda kırsal turizme yönelik akademik çalışmaların geçmişinin yaklaşık yirmi yıl önceye dayandığı görülmüştür. Başlarda az sayıda olan çalışmalar, kırsal turizm kavramının popülerleşmeye başlamasıyla artış göstermiştir. Kırsal turizm alanında düzenlenecek ve yinelenecek olan kongre ve sempozyumlar sayesinde, bu alanda yayınlanan bildiri sayısının giderek artacağı tahmin edilebilir. Bildirilerde daha çok genel konuların kavramsal açıdan işlendiği dikkat çekmiştir. Ancak son yıllarda spesifik konulara yönelim de görülmüştür. Kırsal turizmin ulusal ve uluslararası bazda etkinliklere sıklıkla konu olduğundan bahsetmek mümkündür. Ancak kırsal turizm alanında Türkiye’de herhangi bir akademik eğitim programı bulunamaması, bu alana yönelik bir eksiklik olarak göze çarpmaktadır. Bununla birlikte bu alana yönelik yükseköğretim programlarının uluslararası alanda da çok yaygın olmadığı görülmüştür

Competitive strategies of the hospitality enterprises act in congress and meeting market: An application in Izmir

Alternatif turizm çeşitleri içerisinde sahip olduğu payı gün geçtikçe arttıran kongre turizmi, gerek yarattığı ekonomik değer, gerekse sahip olduğu özgün nitelikler bakımından ülkeler ve şehirler açısından oldukça önemlidir. Özellikle sahip olduğu ekonomik potansiyel açısından kongre turizmi, işletmeler bazında yeni rekabet stratejileri oluşturulmasını zorunlu kılmakla kalmayıp, aynı zamanda oluşturulan bu stratejilerin, pazar koşulları göz önünde bulundurularak etkin bir biçimde kullanılması gerekliliğini ortaya çıkarmaktadır. Konaklama İşletmelerinin gelişen kongre pazarında faaliyette bulunmaları ve bu pazardaki paylarını arttırmaları ekonomik anlamda bir tercih olmaktan çıkıp bir zorunluluk haline dönüşmektedir. Bu noktada işletmeler adına pazarlara giriş stratejilerinin doğru tanımlanması ve uygun stratejinin seçimi ön plana çıkmaktadır. Belirlenecek rekabet stratejilerinin sektörün ve işletmenin yapısıyla uyumlu olması maliyet, kalite unsurları, hizmet süresi gibi rekabet gücünü doğrudan etkileyen faktörlerin, işletmeye rekabet avantajı sağlama konusundaki etkinliğini artırma açısından önem taşımaktadır. Bu çalışmada, kongre, kongre turizmi, rekabet ve rekabet gücü kavramları açıklanarak; İzmir ilinde kongre faaliyetlerinde bulunan konaklama işletmelerinin kongre pazarındaki paylarını artırmak adına uyguladıkları rekabet stratejileri araştırılmaktadır. Congress tourism that making huge inroads in different kinds of alternative tourism, is quite serious for countries and cities both by its economical value and specific features. Congress tourism especially by its economical potential, not only pin down the hospitality enterprises to obtain new competitive strategies, but also make them use these strategies effectively by considering the market conditions. Recently, it is an economical necessity rather than being an option for the hospitality enterprises to get involved in congress market and also to increase their market share. Thus, it is essential to identify and choose the appropriate strategies for the existing market conditions. In addition, it is vital for the hospitality enterprises to determine business and market compliant strategies in order to gain competitive advantage by the aid of their competitive advantages such as low cost, quality improvements, shortened service time etc. This research focuses on the aspects of congress tourism, competition and competitive strategies with regard to hospitality industry in which the Hotel companies are involved in congress market in İzmir

Expressing the facts with taste: Bitter, sweet, sour and salty in Turkish folk culture

The concepts of bitter, sweet, sour, and salty have an important place in expressing the tastes of food as four basic taste elements. Besides the meanings they represent in the frame of different tastes, they are used as connotations to express many phenomena in Turkish folk culture. Expressions such as "salty humor ", "sweet talk ", "sour -faced " and "bitter cold " indicate that these concepts are used to describe many different states, emotions, and humane features. The statements also indicate that the concepts have a cultural deepness. Based on this fact, the starting point of this study is to scientifically analyze the place, importance, areas of use, the meanings symbolized by the words bitter, sweet, sour, and salty in Turkish folk culture. Analyzing the differ-ent connotations and areas of use show the richness of Turkish folk culture and it is believed that studies about the symbolic meanings of the words will contribute to the transmission of Turkish culture. In this respect, determining the meanings represented by the words in Turkish folk culture and explaining them in the frame of cultural dimension is highly important. The study is based on the cultural analysis method, which is one of the qualitative research designs. Firstly, lyrics of the folk songs, idioms and proverbs, and statements in colloquial speeches including the words bitter, sweet, sour, and salty are analyzed with document analysis. After that, the obtained data are analyzed with the thematic analysis method, which is a sub-method of content analysis. Themes and patterns are created according to the results of the analysis process. The metaphor determining method is used in the analysis phase. Research findings involve a total of 258 statements includ-ing the words bitter, sweet, sour, and salty. There are 21 metaphors for the word bitter in 4 different themes, 18 metaphors for the word sweet in 3 different themes, 11 metaphors for the word sour in 2 different themes, and 6 metaphors for the word salty in 2 different themes. On the other hand, besides the meanings represented by the words bitter, sweet, sour, and salty in the frame of the tasting world, it is determined that the word sweet has completely positive abstract connotations while the words sour and salty have negative abstract connotations. The word bitter has generally negative abstract connotations while it connotes "charming and radiant ", which are positive. It is observed that there is a positive relationship between the use frequency of the meanings of bitter, sweet, sour, and salty in the frame of the culinary world and the variety of their conno-tations in general terms. On the other hand, when the use frequency of the words bitter and sweet is analyzed, it is seen that they have a bigger place in Turkish folk culture when compared to the words sour and salty. It is seen that especially the words bitter and sweet represent many phenomena in Turkish folk culture. The rela-tionship between the results of studies about different tastes based on sensory processes and this variation should be determined and analyzed. It is thus important to make researches about the origins of these words. When the researches about the uses of the words before the 13th century are analyzed, it is seen that the words acig and secig were used instead of aci (bitter), the words tatliglig, and tatlig were used instead of tatli (sweet), the words nigsi, civsagun, and civsan were used instead of eksi (sour). It is necessary to carry out researches about the origins and relationships of these words to explain the meanings of their use frequency in today's world

SOSYAL MEDYA KAVRAMI VE SOSYAL AĞ SİTELERİNDE YER ALAN ONLINE REKLAM UYGULAMALARININ İNCELENMESİ

DergiPark: 73197ejovocIncreasing number of social media visitors and their great interest in social networking all around the world, have caused the social networks become into a kind of advertising media when the original purpose were improving communication. This study aims to clarify the social media applications resulting changes in the perception of social communication by increasing the internet-based sharing opportunities and reveal the efficiency of online advertisements via social networking sitesDünya genelinde, sosyal medya sitelerinin ziyaretçi sayılarını artırmaları ve yoğun ilgi görmeleri, iletişimi ön planda tutan kuruluş amaçlarının aksine, sosyal ağ sitelerinin markalar tarafından reklam ortamı olarak keşfedilmeleri sonucunu doğurmuştur Bu çalışma, gün geçtikçe artan kullanıcı sayılarıyla, insanların sosyal iletişim algılarının değişmesine ve internet tabanlı paylaşım olanaklarının artmasına yol açan sosyal ağ siteleri ve sosyal medya ortamları bünyesinde gerçekleştirilen online reklamların etkinliğinin gözler önüne serilmesini amaçlamaktadır