Evaluation of Visitors’ Experiences at the Sanliurfa, Turkey Archaeological Museum

Özet

This study was carried out to examine tourist experiences during museum visits. Accordingly, the service quality of Sanliurfa Archaeological Museum, which is archaeologically very important and has a large number of visitors, has been evaluated. Although there are many studies on the Sanliurfa Archaeology Museum, no study has been done on museum visit experiences of the visitors. The effect of service quality in museums on satisfaction, recommendation intentions and perceived values was examined by collecting information about visitor experiences at the Sanliurfa Archaeological Museum. The service quality of the museum was measured by conducting HISTOQUAL scale and regression analysis was performed to test the study hypotheses. The empirical results obtained from the study revealed that the tangibles of museums had no effect on satisfaction, recommendation intentions and perceived values, but empathy, communication and responsiveness issues had. Empathy had a greater effect on perceived values, while communication and responsiveness variables were found to have more effect on satisfaction. Finally, the study gives useful information to museum management in order to better satisfy visitor demands, since it identified areas where service quality might be improved, as well as those that represent strong elements of the museum's offering and are essential to museum visitors.