Göreme (Cappadocia): examining the hostel experiences of tourists

ABSTRACT

The objective of the present research is to understand hostel experiences of travellers visiting hostels operating in Göreme province of Cappadocia region. Within the context of user-generated content data were collected from online reviews and comments at hostelworld.com online platform and content analysis has been utilized to examine data. Results indicated differences as well as commonalities prior researches in terms of hostel experiences’ characteristics. The findings show that hostel experiences are multifaceted and heterogeneous based on factors of cleanliness and facilities, location, atmosphere, security, staff/owner, price/value for money, social atmosphere, food experience, authentic experience and memorable experience. The presence of food, authentic and memorable experiences have emerged as distinct factors accelerating the quality of hostel experiences that travellers gain.

KEYWORDS:

• Experience
• hostels
• traveller
• Göreme
• hostel experience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Faruk Seyitoğlu

Faruk Seyitoğlu, PhD, works as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Tourism at Mardin, Artuklu University. His research interests are gastronomy and food studies, tourist motivation, tourist experience, destination management and tourism education.

Kadir Çakar

Kadir Çakar, PhD, is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Tourism at Mardin Artuklu University. His PhD examined the motivations and experiences of travellers visiting Gallipoli Peninsula within the context of dark tourism. His main research areas include Dark Tourism, Tourist Destination Governance, Tourism Education, Information Communication Technologies, Destination Marketing and Management, Crisis Management and Sustainable Tourism.

Gülçin Karataş

Gülçin Karataş is a PhD candidate and also works as a Research Assistant at the Faculty of Tourism at Akdeniz University. Her main research areas include Tourism management, finance and accounting.