Metaphorical perceptions of individuals studying tourism guidance on the discourse of "Turkish guidance"

Abstract

According to the Tourism Guidance Profession Law, foreign language proficiency is required to work as a tourist guide. However, the proposed law on the amendment of the Professional Law on Tourist Guidance and the Law on Travel Agencies and the Association of Travel Agencies, which came to the agenda at the beginning of 2024, have caused controversy in the field of the profession. In fact, with the implementation of this law, the obligation to be a guide on tours will be abolished and Turkish-language (without a perfection of any foreign language) guides will be allowed. This situation has received intense negative criticism from the relevant professional chambers, university bodies, non-governmental organizations and most of all from tour guides who actively work in the field. On the other hand, for another group of people who are unable to obtain a license of tour guide because they do not have foreign language proficiency and cannot practice their profession even in their own language, this law proposal has been adopted as a positive approach. To interpret these diverging perceptions, it was aimed to determine the perceptions of 3rd and 4th grade individuals who have not started their profession yet and are currently studying at the undergraduate level and 2nd grade individuals studying at the associate degree level towards the discourse of "Turkish Guidance". In this research method, which is called phenomenology design, the focus is on phenomena that are recognized but do not have a detailed understanding. In this context, to determine the metaphorical perceptions of the prospective tourism guides, they were asked to write the first metaphor that came to their minds together with its justification by using the open-ended statement "In my opinion, Turkish guidance is like ... because ...". As a result of the research, it was seen that 45 metaphors were developed by a total of 62 participants (37 undergraduate and 25 associate degree) and the metaphors developed were classified into five categories according to their common characteristics. When these metaphors were analyzed, it was concluded that individuals who want to work in the field of profession with a foreign language do not look favorably on the proposed amendment to the law due to loss of prestige and loss of earnings. On the other hand, another group of people who are positive about the transition to Turkish guiding stated that it would be advantageous to provide a local service for their own citizens in Turkey, but the obligation to have a guide on tours should continue.