Tourism Sense of Place and Place Attachment

Question: Discuss about the Tourism for Sense of Place and Place Attachment. Answer: Introduction Tourism is such an interesting affair in the world, it is an activity that one doesnt struggle to participate in, getting in flights and moving from a continent to another will always be tiresome though not when one is travelling for leisure. Tourists been to places before though Istanbul has been a breathtaking place. The wonderful city images are always lively, something that makes tourists feel like they are touching the city. Istanbul is a city with modernization and a traditional aspect, existing as early as 7th BC, it is a city that everyone wanted to get control of, as a result of how strategic located the city is. Being a major gateway to Middle east and Europe. There are several cultures in Istanbul and ancient cultures. (Christopher,2006, p.88). This paper is going to be discussing Istanbul city and some of the best tourist destination sites, visited while in the city. When researching about Istanbul one notes that it boasts of urban spaces that cater for foreigners, since mid-1980s. Tourism can be understood better, with reference to others, what makes tourism in Istanbul more interesting is a supplement by entertainment joints. (Rath, 2007, p.91). The paper will cover key elements of the destinations in the city such as Sultan Ahmet, Grand bazaar, Haghia Sophia and Taksim square. Most importantly the paper will focus on the physiological and personal relationship tourists have with the mentioned places of Istanbul. The paper will also analyze how physical and physiological elements have contributed, to tourist experience and memory in terms of place attachment. The first destination which offers a great tourist experience, has been the Sultan Ahmet Mosque; popularly known as the blue mosque, since its walls are surrounded with blue tiles, rich in history. The sultan Ahmet mosque was built between 1609 and 1606 during the rule of Ahmed, it has the founders tomb too. During the Muslim five daily prayers, the Mosque is closed to non worshippers. While visiting the mosque, the ladies are expected to cover their heads and most interestingly, the mosque provides, head covering to the visitors for free, no fee is charged while visiting the mosque, though one can give a donation upon visiting the mosque and thereafter, provided with an official receipt acknowledging the visitors donation for the mosque maintenance. Sultan Ahmet has elements that makes it distinct, the place has a high influx of tourist as they explore the blue walled tiles containing the rich heritage of Ottoman empire culture, research indicates Istanbul city was a gateway to Europe and Asia, the mosque is carved with the historic activities in the ancient times. (Burns, Bibbings, 2010, p.169). The rich culture holds lots of psychological questions in me, the number of people that passed on, since people were fighting to get hold of the city? Most tourists have advocated diplomacy in the society since conquering a city and loosing lives is not worth the city, and it has regular natives of the country who visit the place for their daily worship. The Mosque experiences a very large entry of people from the world and foreign countries and also the original inhabitants. (Rickly-Boyd Braverman, 2016, p.170). Tourists have a personal relationship with the aspect of Sultan Ahmet meeting different needs of its visitors at the same t ime, people come to worship at the same time tourism takes place in the mosque. Even though the tourist destination is open to all, the female visitors are expected to comply with Islamic religion, so as to view the rich heritage captured in the tiles. Women should cover their head and no one gets into the mosque putting on their shoes. That did send a very strong message to me, for excellence we shouldnt ape other people, they should fit in our cultures and way of doing things. At some point tourists will visit Grand Bazaar, which happens to be one of the largest markets in the world. The market nature of attracting 250,000 to 400,000 visitors on a daily basis, makes it a distinctive sense of place, a trading center that has existed since 1461, selling food stuff, ceramics and textiles it was constructed by the order of conqueror sultan Ehmed. Sultan Hemmed had conquered the city around 1451 (Rozen,2010, p.1). While sitting at an open air cafe, watching the busy traders and the visitors exchanging pleasantries, money with goods and services was such a psychological reflective factor, of how the market might have been in the reign of conqueror Hemed. Exploring Grand Bazaar market as a tourist psychological reflective mode, has enabled many tourists to realize that, if societies invest in their cultures and facilities, in some years to come; their places will be a tourist hub. Grand Baazar is busy streets with many merchandise, reminds tourists for activity to take place there is exchange of goods and services and their stay at popular cafes observing the streets, reminded them at times to enjoy one need to watch live activities. Grand Bazaar market invokes a feeling of acceptance and serenity of watching live events that are very peaceful, one personally falls in love with the market, appreciating how a market can connect people from all over the world, to trade in goods and services. It is a destination that whenever tourists go they advocate people to visit, whenever they have time and resources tourists cant get enough of the colourful textiles well laid in the market. Sixty streets in the market only leaves the eyes of many tourists gazing at wonderful display from guitars, souvenirs, textiles, quality clothing and carpets all laid out in pomp and colour with several gates leading them beautifully in the streets. The market makes tourists to feel proud, especially when the sellers of different items all want them, to spend money at their shops across the street. Whenever tourists get into places and people are not quick to serve them, Grand Bazaar memory dawns on them, a tourist experience, of how the sellers of Grand Bazaar, even try to speak in their language just for them to spend money or time with them. Haghia Sophia Haghia Sophia is also referred to as the church of holy wisdom, it is among the early Christian churches and since introduction of the Christian religion it had existed for over 1000years, the present church is the third on site, which was later converted to a mosque, in the fifteenth century. The current Haghia Sophia mosque, has beautiful mosaics that are created in Byzantine world. What stands out with Haghia Sophia; the beautiful mosaics and rich historic site where Muslims and Christians chose as the place of worship, its the mother church to Catholicism in the world. (Hamm, 2010, p.39.). The Haghia Sophia has well portrayed mosaic, rich in history, the images communicate what happened there before and one tends to appreciate art while in the Mosque (Nelson Olin,2003, p.59). An element that stands out with the Haghia Sophia is the reason behind the place being designed, which was to demonstrate wealth and power, Haghia Sophia colourful mosaic, it is estimated that contains over 30 million gold mosaic tiles (Hamm, 2010, p.40). As a tourist you will fall in love with the designers of Haghia Sophia, the designers communicate through tourism in the world, they might not have existed for many years though they communicated to the world how expensive art is and how one can use power to appreciate peoples gifting like art, the various colours of the tiled mosaics, brings joy on a tourist face, they feel it in their veins, it is a world of mosaic that are so colourful that one wants to be part of. An experience as a tourist with Haghia Sophia makes one appreciate art globally whether, written or in mosaic, it is capable of pulling people from all over the world together. Taksim square Deriving its name from Turkish, Taksim symbolizes Distribution or the reservoir, the square has a low stone, on the southern side that distribute water to Istanbul people, on the northern side of the square there is Taksim park with tea gardens. It was created during ancient times. (Ayliff, 2003, p.166). The square provides a reflective experience to every visitor and its cool underground water is refreshing, especially when temperatures are very high. It was amazes the visitors or tourists of the water reservoir which is so big such that it feeds Istanbul population with water, the water is tapped from the forest and it has existed to date. Taksim square water provides such a cooling experience which cools one from the scorching sun and after a long tiresome walk around the city. Connects tourists emotionally with the forest where the water is tapped. On a personal level tourist might not have a view of the forest that water is tapped from, the cooling sensation of Taksim square water makes them have an imagination with the forest and they long to be in the forest. Conclusion The paper has given an overview of my experience with some of the major tourist attraction sites of Istanbul. The Sultan Ahmet mosque which its distinctive features are the blue tilled walls. Grand Bazaar market, which happens to be one of the greatest world markets, tourists experience watching live events in this market, brings out the pride in them, as they watch events and how various vendors long for them to purchase their merchandise. Haghia Sophia is a place with conflicting cultures, both the Muslims and Christians had a longing of the place which is designed to portray wealth and power, most tourists tend to disagree on fighting over territories, especially tourists from 1st world countries, suggesting that dialogue should be the paramount thing. The colourful mosaic is captivating, helps a tourist to appreciate art globally, last but not least the Taksim square, the water reservoir sourced from the forest beckons the tourist to visit the forest due to the refreshing and coo ling sensation of the cool water, it gives them an attachment while on their tourist experience. References Ayliffe, R. (2003).Turkey. Rough Guides. Burns, P. M., Palmer, C., Lester, J. A., Bibbings, L. (Eds.). (2010).Tourism and Visual Culture Methods and cases(Vol. 2). CABI. Christopher, P. J. (2006).Greatest Cities in the World You Should Visit. Encouragement Press, LLC. https://www.bluemosque.co/ https://www.greatistanbul.com/ https://grandbazaaristanbul.org/The_Grand_Bazaar.html Kucukaltan, D. (2006).Tourism and Terrorism: an Experience of Turkey and the World. iUniverse (Threat of tourism in instanbul) Nelson, R. S., Olin, M. (2003).Monuments and memory, made and unmade. University of Chicago press. Rath, J. (Ed.). (2007).Tourism, ethnic diversity and the city. Routledge. Rickly-Boyd, J. M., Knudsen, D. C., Braverman, L. C. (2016).Tourism, Performance, and Place: A Geographic Perspective. Routledge. Rozen, M. (2010).A History of the Jewish Community in Istanbul: The Formative Years, 1453-1566(Vol. 26). Brill. Hamm, J. S. (2010).Term Paper Resource Guide to Medieval History. ABC-CLIO.