Evaluation of the Göreme Historical National Park in Terms of Tourism Practices

Abstract

Göreme National Historical Park is located in city of Nevşehir, Turkey. It has cover approx. 9.614 hectares (ha) which involve one city (Nevşehir), two towns (Ürgüp and Göreme) and two villages (Çavuşin, Aktepe). These regions have geomorphological, natural and cultural values. Due to very rich historical assets, it was declared to be National Historical Park in 1986 by Turkish Council of Ministries. It has also added to the list of Natural and Cultural Heritage under the name of "Göreme National Park and Cappadocia Rocky Areas" in the 357’th order on the date of 12.06.1985 by United Nations Educational-Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the area is one of the nine places from Turkey which are all located within the list. Göreme Historical National Park, located in the Cappadocia region, which is in a very important position in terms of cultural and historical heritage of Turkey, has been one of the well known places in worldwide. Both the natural formation and the historical remains attract tourists from all around of the world and provide a great development in the region in terms of tourism. Thereby, the most important feature of the National Park is the fairy chimneys formed by the erosion of superficial waters on the rocks and rock assembles. However, Göreme Historical National Park, which has historical resources (underground cities, churches, chapels), geological formations such as fairy chimneys, endemic plant existence, landscape value, rest and entertainment and tourism resource values is a unique place worth seeing. The area is protected due to a national park status and also contains archaeological and urban sites. A number of touristic activities have conducted in these area including nature and culture tourism, balloon tourism, faith tourism, horse tourism, congress tourism and wine productio In this study, the tourism potential and the activities in the area have been examined in detail and current problems have been identified. Some suggestions and opinions for improving tourism potential of that area were given.