Visitors’ perceived trust in sincere, authentic, and memorable heritage experiences

The success of cultural destinations often centres on whether consumers trust the provenance and integrity of the heritage assets, activities, and services therein. However, few studies examine whether this ‘perceived trust’ influences the authenticity, sincerity, and memorability of cultural heritage consumption. To investigate the relationships between these constructs, we surveyed 320 visitors to Iranian cultural heritage sites. The findings suggest that perceived trust positively influences visitors’ perceptions of sincerity, existential authenticity, and object-based authenticity, stimulating memorable experiences in the process. This, in turn, emphasises the antecedent importance of perceived trust in shaping consumption. In the face of increasing commercialization within the cultural heritage sector more generally, we therefore encourage practitioners to prioritise safeguarding the integrity of their offerings, promoting heritage assets in a manner that stimulates perceived trust

Visitors’ perceived trust in sincere, authentic, and memorable heritage experiences

The success of cultural destinations often centres on whether consumers trust the provenance and integrity of the heritage assets, activities, and services therein. However, few studies examine whether this ‘perceived trust’ influences the authenticity, sincerity, and memorability of cultural heritage consumption. To investigate the relationships between these constructs, we surveyed 320 visitors to Iranian cultural heritage sites. The findings suggest that perceived trust positively influences visitors’ perceptions of sincerity, existential authenticity, and object-based authenticity, stimulating memorable experiences in the process. This, in turn, emphasises the antecedent importance of perceived trust in shaping consumption. In the face of increasing commercialization within the cultural heritage sector more generally, we therefore encourage practitioners to prioritise safeguarding the integrity of their offerings, promoting heritage assets in a manner that stimulates perceived trust

Urban growth pattern of Didim

28th European-Association-of-Remote-Sensing-Laboratories (EARSeL) Symposium and Workshops on Remote Sensing for a Changing Europe -- JUN 02-05, 2008 -- Istanbul Tech Univ, Remote Sensing Div, ITU Maslak Campus, Istanbul, TURKEYWOS: 000342298700023Didim peninsula is the fattest growing urban area in the Aydin province, Turkey. Since 1990, the Town of Didim has changed significantly after discovered by domestic and international tourist. In spite of the recent rapid LULC change, Didim has not been spoiled compared to other big touristic towns of Turkey. Didim has been announced as "Tourism hot spot" in 2000, thus its planning is overseen by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Monitoring of the Didim's development is necessary to guide the Ministry in promoting sustainable planning guidelines. The present work aims to determine the characteristics and the amount of urban growth in Didim by using remote sensing and GIS technology. Already rectified Aster (dated 04/27/2005) and Spot 2X (03/02/1994) images were used as well as the population information, aerial photographs, city plans and thematic maps from previous studies. Object oriented classification technique is employed. Some complementary information is extracted from aerials and maps by on-screen digitization. Total of 16 LULC categories are defined. After, putting all information in the GIS database, the pattern of landscape change in Didim is described by using selected landscape metrics. The case study of the Town of Didim offers a good example of the impact of national policies on land use dynamics at local landscape scale. The findings indicate three simultaneous key trends: loss of coniferous forests, the thinning of the maqui vegetation cover, and intensification of urban areas on valuable class II type of soils. Identified trends have significant consequences in terms of the response that ecosystems have given to these anthropogenic landscape alterations. A strategy to promote sustainable land use management should be generated timely manner.European Assoc Remote Sensing Lab

Comparison of pixel-based and object-based classification methods in detecting land use/land cover dynamics

28th European-Association-of-Remote-Sensing-Laboratories (EARSeL) Symposium and Workshops on Remote Sensing for a Changing Europe -- JUN 02-05, 2008 -- Istanbul Tech Univ, Remote Sensing Div, ITU Maslak Campus, Istanbul, TURKEYWOS: 000342298700024Due to the complex spatial structure of the earth surface, obtaining a detailed and accurate land use/land cover (LULC) classification results with satellite data have still been problematic. The overall goal of this research is to compare the pixel based and object oriented image classification approaches in terms of the overall accuracies and robustness of the final classification product. An Aster image, dated 4/27/2005, with 3 bands from spectral regions of VNIR is used to perform the LULC classification for 16 different LULC classes. Ground truth data are collected from field surveys, available maps and Quickbird images. In pixel-based image analysis, supervised classification is performed by using maximum-likelihood classifier in Erdas 8.7. Object-oriented image analysis is conducted by utilizing Definiens Professional 5.0: The segmentation algorithm does not solely rely on the single pixel value, but also on shape, texture, and pixel spatial continuity. During the implementation, several different sets of parameters were tested for image segmentation, 20 was selected as a scale parameter and nearest neighbor was used as the classifier. At the end, the performance of pixel based and object-oriented classifications are compared based on the accuracy assessment results.European Assoc Remote Sensing Lab

Making memories: a consumer-based model of authenticity applied to living history sites

Purpose: Underpinned by the consumer-based model of authenticity (CBA), this study investigated whether leisure involvement, object-based and existential authenticity, host sincerity, and engagement stimulate positive memorable visitor experiences in a distinctive commercial hospitality setting: a living history site. Methodology: Quantitative data were gathered from living history site visitors (n=1004), with partial least squares structural equation modelling used to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings: The results confirm the inclusion of the hypothesized relationships between leisure involvement, sincerity, and authenticity, relative to engagement and subsequent memorability. The findings suggest that engagement can be a predictor of positive memorable experience, contingent on CBA constructs (sincerity; object-based authenticity; existential authenticity). The significant association between object-based authenticity and memorable experience identified herein differs from some published studies, while other results are broadly consistent with extant research. Results also reveal significant differences for visitors who purchased souvenirs when compared to those who did not. Implications: Our research extends the CBA by positing sincere hospitality as a relationship based encounter between host and guest that influences social interaction, engagement, and memorability within the novel living history site context. Further, the ability to differentiate visitors based on their purchases at the site is illustrated. Originality: Given the ubiquity of engagement and authenticity as precursors to memorable experiences within contemporary commercial hospitality and heritage discourses, the findings apply to hospitality experiences beyond the living history site context examined herein

Modeling Agricultural Practice Impacts on Surface Water Quality: Case of Northern Aegean Watershed, Turkey

The Northern Aegean Watershed has 9032 km2 surface area and it is one of the twenty-one major watersheds in Turkey. Excessive use of fertilizers in farming activities undertaken in the Northern Aegean Watershed has led to nitrate and phosphorus level increases in the watershed surface water. The study aims to simulate the surface water quality over twenty years (2010–2030) using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for the various potential BMP scenarios. Comparison of simulated results based on the developed BMP scenarios with the simulation results of the existing practices were used to review the efectiveness of the BMP on improving surface water quality. The SWAT-CUP process was used for calibration, validation, and sensitivity analysis. The simulation results can be used as a starting point to further the guidelines for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forest for BMP development on watershed-wide agricultural activities

Interpretation of connectivity metrics at different spatial resolutions: The case of Candarli Bay-Izmir, Turkey

Landscape metrics play an important role in the quantification of landscape structure and associated processes. But the outputs of landscape structural analysis are affected by the spatial resolution of source data. Whilst the influence of spatial resolution on landscape metrics has received considerable critical attention [e.g. 1, 2], recent studies suggest an association between connectivity metrics and the scale of the source data [3]. In this study, we analysed the structure and distribution of natural and semi-natural vegetation patches in Çandarli Bay-Izmir using a land cover map with 6 broad land cover types (Forests, Shrub and Herbaceous Vegetation Associations, Agricultural Areas, Artificial Surfaces, Wetlands and Water Bodies) and 9 landscape metrics (FRAGSTATS) across different spatial resolutions (2m, 5m, 10m, 25m, 50m and 100m). Then, we investigated the influence of those landscape metrics on the identification and prioritisation of land cover types in terms of their contribution to physical connectivity. Our results suggested that the results of individual landscape metrics are affected by spatial resolution, but when they interpreted and evaluated altogether, the prioritised land cover types did not change. © by PSP