Altınkale as a New Thermal Water Tourism Destination in Sivas, Turkey

Abstract

One of the most valuable gifts that nature offers to humanity is thermal waters. The most important feature of thermal waters is that they reflect the physicochemical structure and characteristics of the underground environment to the earth. Today, the phenomenon of tourism has changed rapidly and new touristic phenomena have emerged. It is only possible for developing countries such as Turkey to increase their share in the tourism market by diversifying their tourism services and products. Turkey is a very rich destination in terms of alternative tourism opportunities. One of the alternative tourism resources that needs to be developed in Turkey is thermal waters. The city of Sivas is at the forefront of Turkey with its thermal water resources. Among the thermal tourism destinations of the city of Sivas, Altınkale is the newest one with important touristic attractions. The interesting feature of Altınkale is that it consists of golden colored water travertines. The hot and healing thermal waters in Altınkale paint the travertines golden color. Altınkale has an important touristic attraction in Sivas city with its destination, healing, nature and color. In this study, Altınkale, which is a candidate to be a new center of attraction in thermal water tourism, is discussed.