Evaluation of E-Complaints About Balloon Tours in Cappadocia, Turkey

Abstract

Cappadocia is one of the most well-known balloon tourism destinations in the world. Besides its unique nature, recreational activities make a significant contribution to regional tourism. Taking a hot air balloon ride is an alternative tourism activity that is most preferred in Cappadocia. Satisfaction with the balloon rides is a very important factor in terms of tourists’ intention to revisit the region and recommend it to others, and the image perception of the destination. Therefore, this study aims to analyze e-complaints about businesses organizing balloon tours in Cappadocia and develop solutions for balloon tours specific to Cappadocia. The phenomenological design was preferred as the research design. In order to obtain data on the experience offered by balloon companies, a search was made within the location of "Nevşehir or Cappadocia" according to the "balloon" criterion on the Tripadvisor website, a widely used travel platform, and English comments were reached. According to these criteria, a total of 223 comments were obtained for 25 balloon companies operating in Cappadocia. For data analysis, six main themes and 16 sub-themes were defined in the code system. Content analysis was used as the analysis method. Word frequency, sub-theme frequency, and percentage results of the main and sub-themes were given from the descriptive analyzes carried out. In the analysis, which included 363 codings, it was determined that the most frequently repeated main theme was "Complaints About Flight Experience" and the most frequently repeated sub-theme was "Flight Personnel". As a result of this research on balloon tours, it was seen that the expectations of many tourists were not met and there are complaints at many stages, from reservation to post-flight services.