The Oral History Project on the Development Turkish Tourism and hospitality Industry

• In Event: OHA Poster Session and Project Bazaar

Abstract

The study attempted to elicit the mostly obscure history of tourism industry from the meager beginnings the Republic in 1923, to the finalization of the Project in 2015. Bearing in mind the fact that tourism industry is a wide economic and social field with several sub-industries and economic, social, cultural and even political effects and outcomes, the present study is expected to reveal significant knowledge. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the events, personalities, institutions and developments of the near past related to tourism to present and future generations via an oral history research. When the project would be finalized, experiences of 522 individuals would be archived and transferred to future generations using the oral history method. Thus, initially studies to identify the source individuals related to subject matter were commenced to reveal the tourism history of Turkey. Three different workshops were organized in Eskişehir, Istanbul, and Antalya to determine the lists of individuals named as “source individuals,” which would be interviewed face to face in accordance with the oral history methodology. In addition, several training programs were conducted to improve the knowledge of researchers that would be active in the project on the subject. The last interview was conducted in June 2015. Initially, the number of interviews was limited to 200, however, due to the wide context of the subject matter, it was increased in time and finally, 522 individuals were interviewed.

Author

• Nazmi kozak