Interest and participation of Iranian visitors in recreational activities related to Van s cultural heritage.

Cultural heritage in destinations can play an important role by being a source for recreational activities in that destination. Van, one of the main destinations for Iranian visitors in Turkey, offers its visitors important opportunities for different recreational activities with its rich cultural heritage. On the other hand, this rich resource cannot play a sufficient role in recreational activities in the city. In this study, it is aimed to determine the reasons why the rich heritage of the city does not play a sufficient role as a recreational resource for Iranian visitors, which is the main international source market of Van. The data of the study, which was carried out in qualitative research type and phonomenology pattern, were obtained through interviews with different partners of tourism in the city using semi-structured forms. According to the results, it is understood that Iranian visitors have a very low level of knowledge and awareness about the city s tangible, especially intangible cultural heritage assets. The lack of interest in cultural heritage-related recreation is explained by the general purpose of visitors for entertainment, sightseeing and shopping, and the similarity between the two cultures, according to city tourism partners. In addition, this perspective of the partners seems to negatively affect the idea of using cultural assets as a resource in developing new recreational products and services in the city.