Cappadocia visitor profile analysis : Post-crisiss change and its dynamics

Abstract

Cappadocia which is both UNESCO cultural and natural heritage area is in 32 (3%) very rare area in 1031 UNESCO heritage sites. It is an important destination with high potential product diversity in the field of natural, historical and cultural circumstances. On the other hand, destinations' performances do not just depend on the feature of destinations, but also the macro-criteria (such as security or transportation capabilities) of related countries. To be able to make segmentation in terms of marketing mix theory, analyzing the visitor profile has crucial role. Measuring changes on market provides decision makers to make root cause analysis and put forward which countermeasures should be taken/developed. In this perspective, aim of this study is to classify the visitors stayed in Cappadocia country, term and stayed nights basis and to determine the factors (and effect levels) affecting their travel choices in a macro environmental perspective between 2011 and 2015. The secondary aim of the study is to figure out the long-term relationship among countries' travel behaviors to Cappadocia considering stochastic trend. For these aims, cluster analysis is done for objective classification. The factors (and affects level) that affect visitors' travel are figured out via setting panel regression model. In addition, cointegration analysis is used to figure out the long-term relationship among visitors. Results show that while Germany, France and Turkey had unique visiting time pattern which means that they all have a specific visiting behavior, European Union countries had medium sized similar strength on Cappadocia travel. And Canada, Hong Kong, France and Japan had long term similar visiting pattern. Finally, fixed affect panel regression analysis results present that GDP is the only significant variable that affects visitors' visiting behavior for Cappadocia.