Abstract:

Transportation is an important part of the activities in the tourism sector. As a means of transportation, trains have been used to create a touristic experience. People want to get away from city life and be in touch with nature, get to know new cultures, discover new places and share these experiences on social media platforms. Social media platforms play an important role in the advertisement, promotion, and marketing of touristic destinations. In recent years, touristic train travels have become popular with social media interaction. In the study, touristic train travels and social media interaction were conceptually explained, and information was given about the Van Lake Express and the tourism potential of Van province. The aim of the study is to evaluate the Van Lake Express as a subject of tourism with social media interactions and to contribute to the tourism of Van province with the tourism values that Van has. In line with this purpose, the video of Van Lake Express, which is the most watched on the social media platform YouTube, was analyzed by the discourse analysis method, which is one of the qualitative research methods. The results of the study show that the people of Van and those working in the tourism sector are hospitable, sincere, and loving and that the activities of Van Lake Express tourists in Van and their sensitivity towards the protection of local values positively affect the tourism of Van province. In addition, it has been determined that the videos about the Van Lake Express on YouTube play an important role in people's preferring the Van Lake Express train services and it has become popular due to the intensity of the train travel.

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