Participant Observations on Iranian Tourists Taking Part in Guided Excursion in Kusadasi, Turkey

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This research aims at investigating the behaviors of Iranian tourists on guided excursion tours. In accordance with this purpose, firstly, the authors used the scale developed by Pizam & Sussmann (1995) and added sixteen more items to find out Iranians’ behaviors on guided tours. Before adding those items, the researchers first acquire the opinions of industry professionals such as travel agents, tour operators, salespeople and guides. Then, secondly, one of the researchers joined in five guided excursions 174 Iranian tourists (71 male; 73 female and 30 children) participated at different occasions in Kusadasi (The Virgin Mary- Ephesus tour and shopping oriented city tours). During those daily excursions, one of the researchers participated as a participant observer and observed Iranians’ behaviors (such as bargaining, purchasing, tipping, interaction etc.). The observer was introduced to the tourists as an intern with the purpose of observing their natural behaviors from the beginning to the end of the tours. The research reveals that Iranians show a low tendency to interact with other tourists, salespeople/ vendors and to buy local products. Unless the tour guides take their attention to the tip box, Iranians do not show any tendency to leave tips. Besides, these tourists do not tend to eat or drink anything during the shopping oriented tours. It is also revealed that some delays are detected during the excursions, so it is possible to state that punctuality is not ranked among their priorities. On the other hand, they show a high tendency to buy clothes in their free time at the shopping malls. According to the findings of the research, LCW, Zara and Koton are, respectively, the clothing brands most preferred by Iranians during their shopping tours. In addition, they prefer buying souvenir photographs taken during the site visits and bargaining when the prices are not fixed.