Scientific Quarterly Journal

This is not our right! Long-Distance Nationalism of Iranian Tourists in Turkey

Volume 5, Issue 19
Winter 2025
Pages 26-35

Document Type : Original Research Article

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.

Abstract
Specific social, economic, or political conditions of a society can cause the emergence of a specific type of tourism or create specific behaviors and feelings among tourists. Traveling to Turkey, one of the main tourist destinations for Iranians arouses nationalistic feelings in many Iranian tourists. This situation seems to be the result of the current conditions of Iranian society and also the comparison that Iranian tourists make between the country of origin, Iran, and the country of destination, Turkey. Benedict Anderson’s theory of Long-Distance Nationalism can explain this phenomenon among Iranian tourists in Turkey better than other theories. This research seeks to show the nationalistic feelings of Iranian tourists in Turkey and explain the reasons for the arousal of these feelings as well as the way they are expressed. This research was conducted using an ethnographic method. The most important data collection technique was in-depth interviews with Iranian tourists in the three cities of Istanbul, Antalya, and Konya in 2019-2020. In addition to interviews, participant observation, and documentary studies were also used. The author stayed in each of these cities for an average of two weeks to conduct this research, in addition to previous long trips and stays in these three cities. Based on the findings of this research, the nationalistic feelings of Iranians manifest themselves in five categories/sentences: 1- Iranian attractions are better than here. 2- These attractions are Iranian, not Turkish. 3- Why is our situation not like Turkey? 4- Why should we spend our money in Turkey? 5- We and the Turks are close.

Keywords

Subjects
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  • Receive Date 30 November 2024
  • Revise Date 04 February 2025
  • Accept Date 09 February 2025