The Faculty of Tourism at Hasan Kalyoncu University (HKU) held an event titled “Digitalisation in Tourism and Alternative Tourism” at the HKU Cine Amphitheatre as part of Tourism Week, 15-22 April.
The event was moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Furkan Baltacı, Vice Dean of the HKU Faculty of Tourism. The speakers were Asst. Prof. Dr. Dilara Bahtiyar Sarı, Director of the Gaziantep University Vocational School of Tourism and Hotel Management; Selçuk Korkmaz, Acting Director of the Gaziantep Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism; Özgür Çözgener, Board Member of the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) and Southeastern Anatolia Regional Representative; and Mühlüm Şen, General Manager of Divan Gaziantep. The event was attended by academic staff, industry professionals and students.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Furkan Baltacı, Vice Dean of the HKU Faculty of Tourism, said: “This period, a tourism strategy focused on alternative tourism is being followed in the world and in Türkiye. Emphasis is being placed on values that can serve as alternatives to mainstream types of tourism. Among these values, we will address the question ‘where can we place digitalisation?’ as a strategy.”
Following the opening speech, Asst. Prof. Dr. Dilara Bahtiyar Sarı, Director of the Gaziantep University Vocational School of Tourism and Hotel Management, gave a presentation on the topics of What is Alternative Tourism?, types of Alternative Tourism, and VRIO Analysis.
In the panel moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Furkan Baltacı, Vice Dean of the HKU Faculty of Tourism, with Selçuk Korkmaz, Acting Director of the Gaziantep Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism; Özgür Çözgener, Board Member of the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) and Southeastern Anatolia Regional Representative; and Mühlüm Şen, General Manager of Divan Gaziantep as speakers, they shared their knowledge and experience with participants on festival tourism, digitalisation in tourism, the reasons behind the emergence of alternative tourism, the advantages of digitalisation in the tourism sector, the areas of use and steps of digital technologies within alternative tourism, Gaziantep’s digital tourism infrastructure, and digitalisation and experience.
