DO TOURISM GUIDANCE STUDENTS HAVE THE BRAND AWARENESS OF GÖBEKLİTEPE?

When the destinations are evaluated within the scope of cultural tourism, the archaeological sites in the destinations have an important place for people curious about the past. Göbeklitepe, one of these archaeological sites, is located near Örencik village of Şanlıurfa Province. As a result of the archaeological excavations made in Göbeklitepe, whose history dates back to 10,000 BC, it has been determined that the archaeological site is the oldest place of worship and settlement in Anatolia so far. As a consequence of the excavations carried out in Göbeklitepe, symbolized by "T"-shaped stones, many more figures such as animal statues, jewelry and flint tools were unearthed. Göbeklitepe, the most exciting and intriguing archaeological discovery of recent times, is a unique sacred place of the Neolithic Period in terms of the location, dimensions, dating, and monumentality of architectural remains and sculptural pieces, and is the largest human-made cult center in the world to date. The purpose of the research carried out in this direction is to determine whether the students of the tourism guidance department have Göbeklitepe destination brand awareness. A questionnaire prepared for this purpose was applied to 383 graduate and undergraduate students of Tourism Guidance in Turkey. It was concluded that the brand awareness of Göbeklitepe differed according to the class level of the students, and the sources of learning about Göbeklitepe differed as their education levels differed. Within the scope of the study, suggestions were made to the instructors and students of the tourism guidance department.