Sustainable valorization of cultural heritage via tour guides: Turkish case of Ephesus ancient city

The concept of sustainability has become one of the most popular topics of tourism studies. Sustainable tourism emerged as a strong stream of tourism research based on the stance that tourism industry has responsibility for degradation of natural and cultural environments. Additionally, tourism industry consumes local resources and has to pay its attention on conservation issues. Tour guides are part of tourist experience in destinations and they have a strong influence on tourist behavior. In this study, the potential support of tour guides conducting excursions to Ephesus Ancient City located at Western Anatolia nearby Izmir metropolitan city is questioned for sustainable heritage valorization process. Ephesus is regarded as one of the great outdoor museums of Turkey, once the trade center of the ancient world, a religious center of the early Christianity and today an important tourism center deserves to be questioned through cultural heritage valorization concept. Role of tour guides in minimizing negative impacts of tourist traffic is rarely perceived and applied as a support to heritage site managers. This research seeks to reflect primary data obtained through qualitative data collection techniques (semi-structured interview) from Turkish tour guides surveyed at Ephesus Ancient City. Following the evaluation of findings, recommendations will be developed for tourism industry and cultural heritage site managers.