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Kutahya Virtual Tour
Kutahya Kultur ve Turizm Mudurlugu

A. Problem Analysis

 1. What was the problem before the implementation of the initiative?
One of the main problems of Kutahya tourism was the lack of promotions of cultural and natural immovable assets. The local promotion of cultural and natural immovable assets in Kutahya has been carried out through brouchures, guidebooks,flyers etc. There are 1200 registered cultural and natural immovable assets according to the offical records of Provincial Directorate of Ministry of Culture. Before the project, there was a lack of promotion of registered cultural and natural immovable assets. There was no catalogue including the list of cultural and natural immovable assests in Kutahya. Provincial Directorate of Ministry of Culture made promotion of these assets by using local resources. Unfortunalety these promotion activities were not effective. Because they were promoted by printed materials. It was also not possible to publish 1200 registered assets in a catalogue with detailed information about them. These printed materials contained only outer space photos of the assets. The project “Virtual Tour of Kutahya” is an innovative way of adoption of modern methods through the use of interactive virtual media of registered cultural and natural immovable assets of Kutahya. The project itself also enhanced the promotion of all cultural and natural immovable assets of Kutahya both at local and global level. The general aim of the project is to promote the cultural and natural assets of Kutahya in order to improve Kutahya’s share through cultural tourism in the local and global market. The aim of the project is the promotion of the registered cultural and natural immovable assets of Kutahya through the use of interactive virtual media. The final beneficiaries of this project has positive comments about this project. Because the project “Virtual Tour of Kutahya” has allowed the final beneficiaries, the opportunity to virtually view 3D – 360 degree panoramic images of cultural and natural immovable assets of Kutahya and also improves the quality of access service delivery to vulnerable groups (e.g. the poor, , minorities, the disabled and others) and wider population (e.g. the youth,teachers, students).

B. Strategic Approach

 2. What was the solution?
The project is about visualisation of cultural and natural immovable assets of Kutahya through innovative methods. Although our city has a touristic potential, due to lack of promotion of touristic activities our city has not become a touristic attraction for domestic and foreign tourists. There were some efforts to overcome this problem with relavent stakeholrders on different areas. The project was proposed by Metin SELCUK, the Deputy Governor of Governorship of Kutahya as project coordinator. The project created a great opportunity to promote the cultural and natural immovable assets of Kutahya through virtual tours on the internet for global access. The target groups of the project are public and private sector in tourism, internet users, the poor, students, scholars, elderly and the youth. The aim of the project is to promote of the registered cultural and natural immovable assets of Kutahya through the use of interactive virtual media tours. The 1200 registered cultural and natural immovable assets spread city-wide including districts and villages. These cultural and natural immovable assets were not well-known by domestic and foreign tourists even by local public. As a result these assets are still worth visiting despite the lack of promotion before the project. There are different ways of promotion of cultural and natural assets such as with printed material or visual media. But the innovative way of promotion is the virtual tours. A Virtual Tour gives the viewer a life-like 3D view of the place through visual effects on the internet. The project “Virtual Tour of Kutahya” promotes all cultural and natural assets of Kutahya virtually to the potential visitors. Our aim in this project is to improve the historical and cultural tourism of Kutahya through the use of interactive virtual media. Promotion is an important way of making a sensation about a city. Through this user-friendly interactive virtual tour web site, the visitors will get information about Kutahya and also its cultural and natural assets. This web site may also attract other potential visitors who may not have a chance so far to visit our city Kutahya. By this way there will a increase in the number of domestic and foreign tourists from all over the world. As a result, the tourism in Kutahya will be improved and stregnthened by this project. The improvement of tourism in Kutahya will create new job opportunuties and also make an increase in the amount of national income. Like a butterfly effect, this improvement in Kutahya and Turkey may lead a positive effect on the world trade and also may enable our residents to go foreign countries for touristic activities.
 3. How did the initiative solve the problem and improve people’s lives?
The project “Virtual Tour of Kutahya” is an innovative project. Because there aren’t any virtual tour sites having a large scale and portfolio in our country created by public or private sector except this web site. The project is also creates a network and a collaboration between relavent stakeholders in Kutahya. Within the web site of Ministry of Culture, you can see a link to our project website (http://www.kultur.gov.tr/TR,50696/kutahya-sehir-turu-360-derece-panoramik-goruntuler.html) and integrated into network of Ministry of Culture. Our project,having a great virtual media portfolio of 1200 registered cultural and natural immovable assets of Kutahya, is the only project of its kind in the world before and during the implementation of the project. The innovative ways of this project are as follows: a)including ALL cultural and natural immovable assets of a city, b)no other web site on this scale and virtual portfolio c)available for Google Earth application and other social media network d)an English version of the website. e)free service of promotion f)a search engine within the website g)a user-friendly interactive website h)location details and maps

C. Execution and Implementation

 4. In which ways is the initiative creative and innovative?
Project Activities: Activity 1.1: The project team consisted of Project Coordinator, Vice coordinator,an archaeologist, an art historian,an accountant and a secretary. The coordinator is Deputy Governor and Vice coordinator is Director of Kutahya Museum. Activity 1.2: The headquarter of the project is Provincial Directorate of Ministry of Culture. Also a special room within the building of Provincial Directorate. was reserved for project activities Activity 1.3: A technical study visit to Suleyman Demirel University and Isparta University and collaboration with these organisations. Activity 2.1: Purchase of computers and softwares, hosting,domain name,promotional materials 3D and panaromic visualisation,digitalisation,uploading to data base according to the Law No 4734, Section 22/d and Section 19. Activity 2.2: Purchase of computers and softwares, hosting, domain name,promotional materials 3D and panaromic visualisation,digitalisation,uploading to data base and designing website were carried out through an open tender evaluated by a commision. Activity 2.3: A detailed work programme was created in collaboration with the qualified bidder. Activity 2.4: Purchasing of database including the digital media ( 3D and panaromic views) of cultural and natural assets and designing the wbsite of the project. Activity 2.5: the audit of the project activites in tender and official work flow were carried out by Provincial Directorate of Ministry of Culture. Activity 2.6: Purchasing of database and domain name was carried out Provincial Directorate of Ministry of Culture and uploading the digital media to database and website was carried out by contractor company. Activity 2.7: All the provision of goods or services for the implementation of the project was carried out by Accepting Commision according to the Law No 4734 (Public Procurement Act) Activity 3.1:Interim reports on a 2 month period were submitted to Zafer Development Agency Activity 3.2: Interim reports including technical and financial details on a 4 month period were submitted to Zafer Development Agency Activity 3.3: Final Report was submitted to Zafer Development Agency in 30 days after the lifetime of the project. Activity 3.4: Evaluation Report was submitted to Zafer Development Agency within three months after the lifetime of the project. Activity 4.1: Press Conference were held by Governorship of Kutahya, Provincial Directorate of Ministry of Culture and contractor company. All local media was invited to the press conference. Activity 4.2: Promotional Activities: The target group of the promotional activities was public, guides,tour operators, NGOs in the field of tourism.Promotional materials were brouchure,leaflet,poster,DVD,press conference text and e-bulletin. Activity 4.3: Visibility Actions: All visibility actions were carried out in accordance with “Guidelines For Visibility Actions” oublished by Agency. Activity 4.4: Opening Cocktail was held by Provincial Directorate of Ministry of Culture.
 5. Who implemented the initiative and what is the size of the population affected by this initiative?
The Project Coordinator is Kutahya Provincial Directorate of Ministry of Culture. The partner of the project is Governorship of Kutahya. Faculty of Fine Arts at Dumlupinar University and private companies about virtual tour media gave assistance and technical support during the design and implementation of the project. Public officials from different public agencies also took part during the design and implementation of the project. The photo shoot sessions of the project were carried out under the supervision of archaeologists and art historians. The project involves service procurement. There was an open tender for all qualified bidders. Each stage of the tender was carried out under the supervision of public officials. Kutahya Chamber of Commerce and Industry and The Union of Tradesmen and Craftsmen contributed to the tender stage of the project.
 6. How was the strategy implemented and what resources were mobilized?
The project was submitted to Zafer Development Agency, a regional development agency promoting cooperation and communication among local actors including members of local government, private sector, universities, NGOs, local media and the public in Kutahya. The project was accepted in the first quarter of 2011. The total budget of the project was 500.000,00 Turkish Lira. 90% of the total budget (450.000,00 TL) was financed by Zafer Development Agency and 10% of the budget was financed as contributions in kind by Governorship of Kutahya and Provincial Directorate of Ministry of Culture. Contributions in kind were as providing human resources. Civil Servants within the context of this project were not paid any salary. In addition some of the public agencies contributed to project by providing their technical capacity ans sources in kind. The 90% of the budget (450.000,00 Turkish Liras) financed by Zafer Development Agency was used service procurement for of visualisation activities.There was an open tender for all qualified bidders. The project was developed by Metin SELCUK,Deputy Governor of Governorship of Kutahya. Faculty of Fine Arts at Dumlupinar University contributed technically to the implemantation of the project.
 7. Who were the stakeholders involved in the design of the initiative and in its implementation?
The most succesful outputs of the project were as follows: a)The promotion of the registered cultural and natural immovable assets of Kutahya at national and transnational level through the use of interactive virtual media. b)A digital record of registered cultural and natural immovable assets of Kutahya c)A digital resource for students, teachers, scholars and reserchers d)Creating an awareness of history among final beneficiaries e)Preserving of natural resources ( no use of printed materials) as this project is based on virtual media
 8. What were the most successful outputs and why was the initiative effective?
The project was financed by Zafer Development Agency, a regional development agency promoting cooperation and communication among local actors including members of local government, private sector, universities, NGOs, local media and the public in Kutahya. The project was evaluated and selected by independent assessors. The project was carried out by Project Team. The project control was carried out on the spot checks and inspections by Project Team. All stages of the project was inspected by Zafer Development Agency. The financial expenditures were audited by certified public accountant. The project team consisted of experts from different professions such as staff of Faculty of Fine Arts at Dumlupinar University and Director of Kutahya Museum.
 9. What were the main obstacles encountered and how were they overcome?
There were not big obstacles during the implementaion of the project except the improvement of the Project Technical Provision. This obstacle was overcome by recieving technical support from Faculty of Fine Arts Dumlupinar University. Also the visualisition of the immovable assets has been done on a schedule based on informed consent and appointments.

D. Impact and Sustainability

 10. What were the key benefits resulting from this initiative?
Virtual tour, enabling a great access to every group or organisation, is a very effective way of promotion. Our Project has great multiplier effect due to its design and implementaion. With the Project, there is an increas in the number of domestic and foreign tourists. Our visitors accomodate for a couple of days thanks to our Project. As a result the amount of income of residents and companies active in the filed of tourism in Kutahya also increase. With this increase, there are more investments or improvements in their capacity. A chain reaction has begun from tourism to industry and agriculture. As a result of this economic chain reaction, there are new investments and these organisations worked with full capacity. This also changes the consumer behaviours. These target group had new tendincies like traveling and exlploring new destinations more than before. The rate of increase in tourism is higher than other sectors. Because the multiplier effect of virtual tour and tourism is greater than promotion activities and sector. There is a greater effect of this Project on different areas due to its final beneficiaries. There are more tourists compared to the period before the implementation of the Project. Since promotion activities and Zafer airport in service has increased the total number of visitors to Kutahya. Total number of visitors in 2011 was 631.006. But total number of visitors in 2012 increased to 7374.974. The service quality in toursim of Kutahya has been improved by new investments. This new investments lower the percentage of unemployment rate and created new job opportunuties. While the rate of unemployment in Kutahya in 2011 was realized as5,9%., the rate on unemployment in 2012 was realized as 4,2% according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). According to the recent announcements of TUIK, Kutahya has the lowest rate of unempleyment. With the implementation of the Project, it is possible to say that there is an increase in the amount of household in the province. The Project has also developed tourism potential of Kutahya by creating new ideas about preserving cultural heritage. New museums has been opened, some historical buildings been renovated and the number of historical artifacts exhibited increased. For the sustainability of the Project, the visual media published within the website of the Project ( http://www.360kutahya.gov.tr) will be integrated to Google Cultural Institute (http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/home?hl=en).
 11. Did the initiative improve integrity and/or accountability in public service? (If applicable)
Provincial Directorate of Ministry of Culture has a technical and financial capacity for the sustainability of the Project. Because our Directorate has a well-established organisational structure which strength the sustainability of the Project in terms of developing tourism potential, marketing and promotion. There is an extra financial fund (for maintance of system failure or purchasing new computers and software if needed,hosting and domain name) dedicated to the Project in the total budget of the Directorate. Beside this, two staff have been appointed as technical staff for the Project. The outputs of the Project has been disseminated among different stakeholders such as local residents, civil society organisations and local public administration agencies. Different stakeholders based on shared values and common responsibility appropriated the Project on a high level as their income increases. They also share the link of our Project website within their personal websites,social media like twitter,facebook,instagram etc. The local public administration agencies also shared information about our Project with their staff On the other side the sustainability costs of this Project is low. Because the expenditures of this Project in the long term can be funded by local sources. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In this respect our Project has a strong sustainability. Because all media are digital and the Project itself preserves the nature as there are no printed materials such as book,brouchure,poster,leaflet,catalogue etc.. This Project also creates a new vision for the local public administration agencies active in tourism for virtual promotion activities. The Project has an important impact on local development as tourism has a very important multiplier effect. The Project was disseminated throughout the public service at national level and international level by multi-language website. The digital media can be downloaded,published and shared free of charge. Also a DVD version of digital medi can be obtained from Provincial Directorate of Ministry of Culture
 12. Were special measures put in place to ensure that the initiative benefits women and girls and improves the situation of the poorest and most vulnerable? (If applicable)
It is clear that there is a lack of promotion and creating awareness among local residents and global tourists about historical artifacts both in our country and in the world. Promotion carried out by printed materials is not an effective way due to its high costs. On the contrary, virtual tour is a low-cost and eco-friendly application. This characteristic of this application makes it popular. The Google Cultural Institute,a sample Project of its kind, is an effort to make important cultural material available and accessible to everyone and to digitally preserve it to educate and inspire future generations. There are 55.000 registered movable historical assets according to the offical records of kutahya Museum. This number is increasing with the new excavations. Only 5000 out of 55.000 registered movable assets can be exhibited. The rest of them are kept in museums’ warehouses like in many parts of the world. So we strongly recommend that all museums should have a virtual tour website in order to exhibit all historical artifacts virtually. Because this method is cost effective as exhibiting in museums have high costs. The aim of Provincial Directorate of Ministry of Culture in the future will be visualisation of all 50.000 historical artifacts of the museums in Kutahya Within the website of Ministry of Culture (http://www.kultur.gov.tr/?_dil=2) there are only 81 virtual tours of immovable historical and natural assets (e.g.museums, mosques,palaces etc.) from different parts of Turkey. But there are much more than this in Turkey. After this Project the number of immovable historical and natural assets in digital media increased to 1281. This Project is unique and can be defşned as a pilot Project due to its total number of digitalised version. This Project is also a best practice for other provinces in Turkey and shared its success story with the relevant stakeholders. Through the Project website, the network for promotion has been enlarged.

Contact Information

Institution Name:   Kutahya Kultur ve Turizm Mudurlugu
Institution Type:   Government Department  
Contact Person:   Metin Selcuk
Title:   Deputy Governor - Coordinator  
Telephone/ Fax:   +902742236003
Institution's / Project's Website:  
E-mail:   metin.selcuk16@gmail.com  
Address:   Kutahya Valiligi - Kutahya
Postal Code:   43100
City:   Kutahya
State/Province:   Kutahya
Country:  

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