Somuncu, MehmetUzun, Funda Varnacı2022-07-012022-07-012012http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12575/82570Ihlara Valley is rich in cultural landscape values formed as a result of volcanic activities of Hasan Mountain in Central Anatolia and Melendiz Mountain and carved to be used for settlement and worshipping purposes since the early years of Christianity In the present study, the main purpose is first to determine the cultural landscape values in the area and then analyze them in terms of sustainable tourism by eliciting their characteristics. In addition to this, the study looks at the protection status of the cultural landscape values in the area and evaluates the area in terms of its location and protection status in comparison to Göreme national Park and Cappadocia Rocky Sites in the list of World Heritage Sites. Moreover, the study aims to elicit the opinions of various associates such as tourists, local people and local governors about tourism activities in the area to assess the present protection state of the cultural landscape values according to sustainable tourism criteria and in this way, make some suggestions to carry out sustainable tourism activities in the area. Within the context of the present study, field works were carried out. Through these works geographical coordinates of the values accepted to be cultural landscape values by UNESCO such as cave churches, caves, underground caves and old houses were determined and their photographs were taken. Through GPS, all the values whose coordinates were determined were plotted on a map in ArcGIS 9.2 medium and maps of the cultural landscape values in the area were created. The characteristics of the cultural landscape values in the area were also determined based on field observations and literature review. In addition to this, the state of cultural landscape values in the area was discussed in comparison to Göreme National Park and Cappadocia Rocky Sites in the list of World Heritage Sites. Within the framework of the present study, tourists, local people and local governors were selected as the associates whose opinions were elicited about tourism activities and the protection of cultural landscape. In order to collect information from tourists, a -Questionnaire?, -Satisfaction Level Scale from the Area? and -Attitude and Suggestion Scale to Elicit the Opinions about the Tourism Activities and Protection Efforts? were developed. These scales were administered to totally 583 tourists both in Turkish and English. The data collected were interpreted by calculating frequencies, standard deviations and mean values. Moreover, in order to control the variance variability of the groups to be compared Levene statistic was conducted and Box`s M statistic was employed to control covariance homogeneity in 379MANOVA test. In the tests where the variances and covariances for the groups were found to homogenous, MANOVA was used to check whether the means vary depending on the nationality, gender, age, income level, education level, marital status, profession, the number of visits to the area, type of accommodation and the content of the visit independent variables. In cases where covariance is not homogenous the comparisons were performed through t-test and one-way variance analysis (ANOVA) for independent groups. In groups where significant differences were determined, in order to decide the source of difference, LSD test and Dunnet C test were conducted. Qualitative data collection methods were used to collect data from the local people. Interviews were carried out with the local people living in Ihlara town, Selime town, Belisırma village and Yaprakhisar village to elicit their opinions about the extent to which they economically benefit from tourism activities, social contribution of tourism and protection of the cultural landscapes in the area. In the analysis of the data collected through interviews, NVivo 9.0 qualitative data analysis program was used. In order to support the data obtained through content analysis, the findings were interpreted by using word trees and direct quotations. The opinions of the local governors were evaluated by means of direct quotations. In light of the findings, the tourism activities carried out in the area were evaluated according to the criteria of sustainable tourism and found to be not sustainable. Within the context of the present study, finally, analytic hierarchy process method was employed to determine and evaluate short, medium and long-term goals so that suggestions could be developed to make tourism activities sustainable in Ihlara Valley. In this regard, elements of sustainable tourism such as protection of cultural landscape, tourist satisfaction and development of local people were set to be sub-goals (alternatives). Parallel to the alternatives, 3 factors were determined. Factors and subfactors of these factors were constructed as result of field works conducted in the area. Sub-factors of cultural landscape values factor consist of cultural landscape valuesdetected in the area. Sub-factors of the tourist expectation factor were constructed according to the results of the questionnaire administered to the local people and foreign visitors to the area. Sub-factors of the local people`s expectations factor were constructed as a result of the interviews conducted with local people in the area. As a conclusion, as a result of the evaluation of all the alternatives according to the factors protection of the cultural landscape values was suggested to be a short-term goal, tourist satisfaction as a medium-term goal and development of local communities as 380a long-term goal. Key words: Ihlara Valley, cultural landscape, sustainable tourism, tourist satisfaction, local development, world heritage areas, UNESCO, geographical information sciencestrIhlara vadisisürdürülebilir turizmdoctoralThesis