Theory-Based Special Interest Tourism

Abstract

Special interest tourism (SIT) is a specialized type of tourism. People aim to visit destinations with a specific theme through this type of tourism. During SIT consumption, they create or develop peculiar interests and participate individually or in groups. In this respect, SIT is a concept that reflects some trends. These trends developed toward satisfying different interests rather than those developed around mass tourism. In other words, SIT emerges as an alternative movement to mass tourism based on general interests. Soon after mass tourism gained extensive dimension, alternative tourism, ecotourism, and SIT concepts emerged. These concepts altered the style of tourism operations. Diversified tourism operations have transformed conventional tourism into experience-based tourism activities. Presentations of these types of experiences are frequently in the form of special interests. The content of this chapter encompasses the fundamental concepts forming the SIT. An overview of the terminology – such as alternative tourism, sustainable development, and sustainable tourism – is the scope of this chapter. Moreover, criticisms and some trends in SIT are the leading subtopics. Some examples of academic research about SIT in Turkey are listed in the current study. This list was compiled from the information gathered from the Council of Higher Education National Thesis Center Database records.

Citation

Ekin, Y. (2024), "Theory-Based Special Interest Tourism", Akbulut, O., Ekin, Y., Güler, M.E. and Saribaş, Ö. (Ed.) Battlefield Tourism (Tourism Security-Safety and Post Conflict Destinations), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 3-20. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83909-990-820241002