Specialization of law enforcement for tourism security: the case of Turkish Gendarmerie *

This research was conducted to reveal how the Turkish Gendarmerie should specialize in ensuring the security of touristic destinations. From October 2020 to February 2021


Introduction
Tourism is a sector whose positive economic impacts are primarily considered, especially for underdeveloped and developing countries.However, tourism is a very sensitive and fragile sector due to its hypersensitivity to security threats.Security problems that may occur or perceptions that a touristic destination is not safe could harm the tourism sector in that region.Due to its unique and fragile structure, the tourism sector and touristic destinations need specific security measures as well as standard, hard, and intensive security measures.The importance of tourism, especially for developing countries such as Türkiye, requires the development of a security concept specific to touristic regions (Aras, 2017).
To develop a security concept specific to touristic regions, the security forces and all stakeholders of the tourism sector should cooperate.The stakeholders of the tourism sector, who are always in communication with tourists, are exposed to new learning opportunities about the risk and security perceptions of tourists regarding the visited country and touristic regions, the threats and dangers that tourists may experience.In addition, gathering and evaluating the opinions of all stakeholders of the tourism sector in the development of the security concept will enable them to be more productive for tourism and thus responsibilities could be shared with the sector stakeholders (Aras, 2017).
One of the most basic elements of the security concept is law enforcement.The ability of law enforcement officers responsible for ensuring to meet the need for tourismspecific security requires modernization and specialization.When the conditions of the sector are considered, the specialization of law enforcement officers in ensuring security in the tourism sector seems to be the very first measure to be taken (Tataroğlu & Subaşı, 2009).Specialization in law enforcement activities in touristic regions has been examined in the literature since the 1990s.Muehsam and Tarlow (1995) and Pizam et al. (1997) conducted pioneering studies in the field and found that the provision of effective security services in touristic regions will only be possible by establishing tourism-oriented policing units in these regions.Tourism-oriented policing units have been established in many countries that are aware of this fact.The specialization activities, considering the conditions of the tourism sector in Türkiye, started with the establishment of Tourism Police in Istanbul in 2016.In addition, municipal tourism police units have been established within the municipalities in various provinces.However, there has been no special law enforcement unit specific to touristic regions within the Gendarmerie, responsible for ensuring security in touristic destinations in Türkiye.93% of the land area of Türkiye and 21% of its population are under the responsibility of the Gendarmerie in ensuring security (Gendarmerie General Command, 2020).Many of the coastal touristic destinations in Türkiye, as well as some of the important rural touristic attractions, are among Gendarmerie's responsibilities.During high tourism seasons, the populations of destinations increase significantly, and when tourists are counted, the capacity of the Turkish Gendarmerie could be exceeded.Considering the wide area of responsibility of the Turkish Gendarmerie, it can be seen as more important for the tourism sector compared to other law enforcement units such as the Police, the Coast Guard and the Municipal Police, especially during the high tourism season.
The staff of the Turkish Gendarmerie specializes in many areas, such as intelligence, combating smuggling and organized crime, crime scene investigation, combating terrorism, traffic.Considering the significance of tourism for the Turkish economy, characteristics and fragile structure of the tourism sector, the fact that tourism has not been designated as a specialized area in the Gendarmerie could be considered as a shortcoming.The tasks performed in the regions where there are intense touristic activities are considered within the scope of classical and standard public order tasks.Although the Turkish Gendarmerie has successfully performed its task in ensuring public order in the field of tourism, it could be more successful if it employed staff with higher awareness, adopting a different mission and security concept.This research examines how Turkish Gendarmerie should be restructured into a specialised unit under the name of "Tourism Gendarmerie", considering the importance of the tourism sector and its unique structure, the necessity for developing a new concept regarding security in tourism with the contribution of all stakeholders and the need for security units that specializes in ensuring order in touristic destinations.In other words, the main purpose of the research is to reveal how the Turkish Gendarmerie should specialize in ensuring the security of touristic destinations, what should be the security concept that should be applied in touristic destinations.The research questions related to the sub-objectives created in line with this basic purpose are as follows: • What should be the general security policy specific to touristic areas?Should the Turkish Gendarmerie provide security services in touristic destinations visibly or invisibly?Why? • What subjects specific to the region where the Tourism Gendarmerie will be working are needed for training?• What should be the duties of the staff who will be the Tourism Gendarmerie and what should be the qualifications to be sought in the staff?• Is there a need for a different uniform, weapons, tools and equipment specific to the region where the Tourism Gendarmerie will serve?If any, what is it?
• What are the differences between coastal tourism and alternative tourism development regions in terms of the security concept to be developed specifically for these touristic regions?• What differences should there be in the concept of tourism security in regions known to be more sensitive to security compared to other regions?
In this research, the opinions of law enforcement staff and stakeholders of the tourism sector who are at senior positions in the field of tourism and security were gathered through an interview form.With the opinions gathered, the original security concept that should be applied in touristic regions was determined and it was revealed how and to what extent the Turkish Gendarmerie should specialize under the name of "Tourism Gendarmerie".
No empirical research has been found in the literature to determine the tourism security needs of the Turkish Gendarmerie.In this context, this research is considered to be an original and important study and it is expected to fill an important gap in the tourism and security literature.The study consists of five parts.In the first part titled literature review, the concepts of tourism security, law enforcement, tourism-oriented policing are examined and information about the Turkish Gendarmerie is given.In the "Method" section, which is the second part of the study, the research area is introduced, and the sample and data collection process, research instruments and methods used in data analysis are explained.In the third part of the study, the findings obtained with the data analysis are presented.In the fourth part, the findings are discussed.The study is completed with the conclusion as the fifth part of the study.In this part, theoretical and practical contributions of the study, limitations and suggestions for future studies are presented.

Tourism Security
From the point of view of tourism and tourists, security could usually be defined as the protection of one against the other who may give harm (Tarlow, 2009(Tarlow, , 2014a)).Payam (2015) defines tourism security as activities related to the protection of tourists against all risks and threats that have a criminal risk intentionally generated in touristic destinations.Policymakers in the tourism sector have become more interested in the concept of security than ever before since the terrorist attack in the United States on September 11, 2001.Many practitioners in the field of tourism did not consider that security in tourism was an important issue before this attack.After the September 11 terrorist attack, many researchers have begun to study security and safety problems, and thus these problems have become a new field of research in tourism (Kovari & Zimanyi, 2011;Tarlow, 2014a;Korstanje, 2017).
Security, which is important for ensuring quality in tourism (UNWTO, 1996), has always been very important for travel and tourism (Kovari & Zimanyi, 2011).More than any other economic activity, the success or failure of a touristic destination has been dependent on ensuring a secure environment for visitors (UNWTO, 1996).Tourism, as an important sector, is a fragile and highly sensitive sector to security, public order problems, perceptions of danger, war, terrorism, theft, and it is also highly sensitive to social and political crises and uncertainties (Tataroğlu & Subaşı, 2009;Aksu et al., 2013;Öztürk & Şimşek, 2013;Aras, 2017).Therefore, the risk is quite high in the tourism sector (Ünlüönen et al., 2011).The causes that negatively affect the tourism sector such as crime, terrorism, corrupt public order, and all kinds of events, rhetoric, and actions that will draw tourists back are damaging the tourism economy as well as the country's economy when considered from a broad perspective (Mawby, 2014).
The perception of security regarding a region by tourists is one of the most important factors in the formation of touristic demand for that region (Seçilmiş, 2009).One of the prior factors that tourists will consider when choosing a destination to go for a vacation is security (Seçilmiş & Ünlüönen, 2009;Karaman & Polat, 2020).The perception of security and security is one of the most important factors affecting the demand for tourism (Bahar & Bilen, 2020).If a destination is not perceived secure, it may have difficulty in attracting visitors although it has attractive elements, various amenities, and low prices (Şengül et al., 2017).
The studies conducted in the field (Kekovic & Markovic, 2009;Seçilmiş & Ünlüönen, 2009;Kovari & Zimanyi, 2011;George & Booyens, 2014;Bayhan & Ünlüönen, 2016;Ghaderi et al., 2016;Santos et al., 2018) emphasized that security is an important determinant in the choice of the touristic destinations, in the countries sending tourists and the agencies in these countries, as well as tourists.In addition to the choice of destination, security also has a significant impact on the length of stay at the destination, the intention to revisit the destination, and the tendency to recommend the destination to others (Karaman & Polat, 2020;Bahar & Bilen, 2020).The increasing security problems in touristic regions directly affects the image of that region and, accordingly, a decrease occurs in the number of incoming tourists and in the contribution of tourism in that region to the economy.Therefore, relevant efforts should be made to minimize the impacts of security problems on tourists (Mawby, 2014;Bras, 2015).

Law Enforcement and Turkish Gendarmerie
Security is one of the primary issues of societies and states.The basic structure in the field of security is law enforcement (Dündar & Özgür, 2020).The concept of law enforcement, when taken as an activity, is defined as an activity aiming to maintain the peace and order of the life of the communities and states, ensuring the prevention of personal and social actions that disturb the peace before they happen (Sayan & Özgür, 2019).In addition, when it comes to law enforcement activities, the Gendarmerie and the Police are not the only two law enforcement units to be mentioned.
Law enforcement in Türkiye is divided into two main structures, namely administrative and judicial.Administrative law enforcement, which is the main field of study of administrative law, is divided into two, namely "general administrative law enforcement" and "special administrative law enforcement".Although there is a distinction of judicial law enforcement agencies in the legislative dimension, in practice there is no structural separation for this task, and administrative and judicial law enforcement are carried out together.For this reason, the administrative-judicial separation of law enforcement agencies in Türkiye has clearly defined activity rather than organization or staff (Kara, 2016).The general administrative law enforcement structures (Gendarmerie, Police, and Coast Guard) within the law enforcement agencies in Türkiye differ from others.The general administrative law enforcement agency differ from others in many ways, such as the fact that they are in a general authorized position in law enforcement activities in the country, the main purpose of the organization is the law enforcement function, and in this context, the organization and its staff are specific to law enforcement services or support.
The Gendarmerie, which performs its duties in the general law enforcement structure in Türkiye, was established in 1839.The Turkish Gendarmerie is an armed general law enforcement force that ensures the protection of security and public order.This organization had a military status before and it was affiliated with the Turkish General Staff.However, its military status was abolished in 2016 and affiliated with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.The Gendarmerie is the unit responsible for security in a significant part of the touristic areas in Türkiye.The general duties and responsibilities of the Turkish Gendarmerie are out of the coverage of police duty, and these areas remain out of the provincial and district municipal boundaries, and there is not any police organization in these areas.93% of the land area of Türkiye and 21% of its population are under the responsibility of the Gendarmerie in terms of providing security and public order services (Gendarmerie General Command, 2020).

Specialization for Tourism Security: Tourism Oriented Policing
The development of the tourism sector has revealed some specific security problems and needs in the sector, and it has required different security approaches and practices in this field (Tataroğlu & Subaşı, 2009).Touristic regions and non-touristic regions may have structural differences in ensuring security.Any security measure applied anywhere in a country may be considered "appropriate" and "satisfactory" by residents in that region, while the same measure may be considered "inconvenient" by tourists in touristic areas.Therefore, the security measures to be taken in touristic regions should be appropriate to the specific security needs of touristic regions (Aras, 2017).The tourism sector is a sensitive sector that can easily be damaged by intensive, harsh and standard security measures to be taken in combating the risks to tourists.To develop a security concept specific to touristic regions, security units should ensure the contribution of all stakeholders of the sector.It is important to consider every opportunity for the participation of all stakeholders in the sector in the provision of security services in tourism.
There is significant evidence that cooperation between law enforcement agencies and stakeholders provides better quality tourism (Wilks, 2011).However, there may be different perspectives on tourism security between stakeholders in the field of tourism and those in the field of security.What is important for success is the harmonization of the goals of all stakeholders and the creation of an environment of cooperation.The most striking study on this subject is the research conducted by Kiliclar et al. (2018).In this study, how terrorism can be prevented in tourism destinations has been examined from two different perspectives (security forces vs. civil authority) in Türkiye.In this context, the opinions of the provincial police chiefs and provincial culture and tourism directors in all provinces were received.Security forces and civil authorities have a common consensus on the importance of education in practices to prevent terrorism in tourism destinations.In addition, both the security forces and the civil authorities are not very keen on strengthening security measures.They consider the small security measures that can be taken for tourism employees sufficient and appropriate.However, while civil authorities consider cooperation and education important in tourism security, the same cannot be said for security forces (Kiliclar et al., 2018).
The first component of the security concept to be created for touristic regions is to determine whether the law enforcement agency will provide security services visibly or invisibly.In other words, it is all about the determination of the general security policy.If the law enforcement agency will provide security services visibly, the uniforms and equipment that the staff will use in the touristic areas could be chosen accordingly.The tasks that the staff will perform in the touristic regions can be determined.Qualifications needed and training to be given in the selection of staff could be determined.Although some argue that law enforcement agencies should provide security services visibly in touristic areas (Bayhan & Ünlüönen, 2016), some argue that law enforcement agencies should serve invisibly (Aras, 2017;Şengül et al., 2017).If law enforcement agencies serve visibly at touristic destinations, tourists may feel safe thinking that security measures have been taken adequately.However, being visible can also create a feeling that danger is very close.There are two opposing views, and this issue is still controversial.
Security issues in touristic regions may vary.Specially trained law enforcement staff are needed in these regions.Specialized tourism law enforcement staff should be trained to prevent tourists from exposure to crime and minimize the harm of the victims (Mawby, 2014).Since the crimes committed against tourists and the crimes committed by tourists vary, law enforcement agencies need to follow the changing crime dynamics and develop relevant measures (Albuquerque & McElroy, 1999).Since touristic regions could have their unique characteristics, the staff working in touristic regions should be specially trained and they should understand the dynamics of the region and the incoming tourist groups (Bras, 2015).
It has been an increasingly accepted notion that tourists who are victims of crime should receive additional and special law enforcement services (Muehsam & Tarlow, 1995).Considering the population growth in areas where touristic activities are intense in summer and the increasing number of tourists arrivals, it could be claimed that there is a need for law enforcement that serves only tourists in such touristic areas.Many countries have established special law enforcement units to be employed in the tourism sector.Many special law enforcement agencies are working for the security of tourists (Payam, 2015).However, there is very little information on the activities of these units in the public (Wilks, 2011;Payam, 2015).
The concept of a specialized tourist law enforcement agency is new in many countries where tourism is important for the economy and where tourism-related crimes are recognized.However, these developments are not universal yet (Mawby et al., 2015).Various tourism law enforcement units aim to help tourists showing them more empathy internalizing their needs, providing emotional and practical support (UNWTO, 1996;Tarlow, 2000).The most common term used to describe these units is "TOPPS", which is the acronym of "Tourism/Tourist Oriented Policing and Protection Services".This concept was introduced to the literature for the first time in the early 1990s for use in tourism security by some experts such as Tarlow, Pizam and Mansfeld (Tarlow, 2005;Tarlow, 2014a).Specially trained tourism law enforcement agencies were first established in the early 1990s in the Florida state of the USA due to the increased security problems in areas where touristic activities were intense (Tarlow, 2014a).The Metro-Dade Police Department in the city of Miami, located in the state of Florida, created in 1994 in cooperation among the police department, the Federal Aviation Administration and airlines serving at Miami International Airport, is considered the first tourism law enforcement unit (Henninger, 2001).
Tourism police, for the first time, was defined by the Miami Metro-Dade Police Department as a "law enforcement philosophy aiming to ensure the prevention of crimes through specially trained law enforcement units, to prevent a decrease in the visits to the most visited touristic destinations due to crime by working in cooperation with civilian citizens, businesses that provide the public travel services, airport officials, business leader" (Henninger, 2001).The reason for the establishment of tourismoriented policing units is to assist tourists, to ensure their security and to control crimes involving tourists through specially trained law enforcement staff on tourism (UNWTO, 1996).It is believed that tourism law enforcement units can help create a better destination image and market tourism as assistance and protection in the tourism sector is important (Payam, 2016).Tourism law enforcement differs from other forms of law enforcement as it takes into account the relationship between the visitor and the local economy.Therefore, simply changing uniforms or appointing someone as a tourism law enforcement officer without proper education and training can be a damaging factor (Tarlow, 2012).Tourism law enforcement units can directly help tourists bring cases to the court, contact relevant embassies as well as some other general responsibilities such as protecting cultural artefacts and the environment, providing tourist information demanded and combating drug traffic and use (Wilks, 2011).According to Payam (2015), the tourism law enforcement police should provide information and assistance to tourists and visitors about the local laws, traditions and culture.Tourism law enforcement staff should provide visitors with assistance and information, in particular, on local traditions, culture, laws and local attractions.Tourism police need to be structured based on preventive law enforcement activities to fulfil these tasks (foot patrol, bike patrol, mounted patrol, motorcycle patrol, the patrol team, marine patrol, air support, etc.).In addition, tourism law enforcement is a rather complex profession that requires knowledge in a wide variety of fields (Tarlow, 2014b).Therefore, for tourism police to perform their tourism law enforcement duties in the best way, they must necessarily undergo training on some subjects because the training of staff is quite important.
Considering that tourism is very important for the economy, and tourism creates problems of crime and disorder, specialized tourism oriented policing units have been established in parallel with the developments in law enforcement structures aiming to effectively ensure tourism security in the world.The Tourism Police in Istanbul and the Municipal Tourism Police units in various municipalities are actively continuing their duties, and although there have been some attempts to establish tourism specific units in the Gendarmerie in the past, there have been currently no specialized units focusing on tourism.

Research Area
This research was conducted in the provinces of Antalya, Muğla, Çanakkale, Mardin and Şanlıurfa in Türkiye.When choosing the research areas, it was considered that the security concept to be applied by law enforcement agencies in coastal and alternative tourism regions could be different.In addition, it was also considered that the security concept may also differ between security-sensitive areas and non-sensitive areas in alternative touristic destinations.In general, Turkish tourism has been developing with a focus on coastal tourism.The provinces of Antalya and Muğla, which are the two most popular touristic destinations in coastal tourism, rank in the top two every year with the number of domestic and foreign tourist arrivals.A significant part of the touristic activities in these two provinces takes place in the responsibility area of the Gendarmerie.The two most important destinations for the Gendarmerie, when considered from a tourism perspective, could be claimed to be Antalya and Muğla.
Considering the responsibility area of the Gendarmerie in the determination of other provinces, identification of regions where touristic activities are relatively intensive compared to other regions was the primary purpose.In this context, 22 provinces that can be chosen as research areas have been identified among the 79 provinces in Türkiye (except Antalya and Muğla) in coordination with the General Command of the Gendarmerie.Then preinterviews were conducted with the deputy ministers of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which are the highest authorities in the fields of tourism and security as well as the crime statistics and general tourism information regarding 22 provinces, and they were explained about the research.With the interviews, the most important destination for alternative tourism in the Gendarmerie area was found to be Çanakkale province.In addition, it was also found that Mardin and Şanlıurfa, which are more sensitive provinces considered from the security perspective and have a border with Syria, were found as the destinations to be included in the study.

Sample
The sample of the research is composed of the stakeholders at the highest level in the field of tourism and security in the provinces of Antalya, Muğla, Çanakkale, Mardin and Şanlıurfa.The most important stakeholders of the tourism sector could be counted as accommodation establishments, travel agencies, tourist guides, local government, central government, local organizations, universities, local people and tourists.Due to the lockdown imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and various restrictions, residents and tourists could not be included in the study.The Turkish Hoteliers Federation is the highest authorized and responsible organization in Türkiye in the accommodation business.In various touristic regions, some associations are members of this federation.The Association of Turkish Travel Agencies is the highest authorized and responsible organization in Türkiye for travel agencies.There are regional representative boards affiliated with this union in various touristic regions.The Association of Tourist Guides is the highest authorized and responsible organization in Türkiye for tourist guides.In various touristic areas, there are chambers of this union.The In line with the purpose of the research, interviews were conducted with the highest authorities in the field of tourism and security in the five provincial centres such as heads of the member associations of the Turkish Hoteliers Federation, heads of regional representation boards affiliated to Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, heads of the member chambers of the Association of Tourist Guides, mayors, chiefs of units responsible for police services in municipalities, chiefs of units responsible for tourism services in municipalities, governors, deputy governors responsible for the directorate of culture and tourism, deputy governors responsible for law enforcement units, provincial directors of culture and tourism, provincial police chiefs, provincial gendarmerie commanders, deputies of the provincial gendarmerie commanders, managers of the anti-smuggling and organized crime branches, anti-terrorism branches, public security branches, and intelligence branches at the provincial gendarmerie commands, the deans of faculties of tourism.
In addition, a Gendarmerie Station Commander from each province was included in the study.In the determination of the Gendarmerie Station Commands, the records kept by the Provincial Gendarmerie Commands for crime and tourism statistics were examined in detail.The average number of visitors in the last five years (2015-2019), the number of accommodation facilities / other facilities and enterprises (bars, clubs, cafes, restaurants, etc.), the average number of five-year (2015-2019) incidents, the average number of five-year (2015-2019) incidents involving visitors in the area of responsibility of the stations and the written opinions of the Provincial Gendarmerie Commands were taken into consideration as five criteria in determining the Gendarmerie Station Commands to be included in the study.The data for 2020 were not taken into account because the date of 2020 showed significant deviations compared to previous years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the persons with the highest level of authority and responsibility in the field of tourism and security in the districts where the determined gendarmerie stations are located have also been included in the study.In this context, interviews were conducted with the district mayors of Antalya-Manavgat, Muğla-Bodrum, Çanakkale-Eceabat, Mardin-Midyat, Şanlıurfa-Haliliye districts, unit chiefs responsible for tourism and municipal police services in these district municipalities, district governors, district police chiefs and district gendarmerie commanders in these districts.As a result, a total of 135 participants were interviewed in five provinces.

Research Instrument
This paper was designed as qualitative research.To collect data for the research, a standardized open-ended interview approach was used out of qualitative research techniques.Stewart and Cash (1985) define an interview as a mutual and interactive communication process based on asking and answering questions, conducted for a predetermined and serious purpose.The reason for choosing this method is that it allows the researcher to get in-depth information from the interviewee about the research topic.Patton (1987) mentions three types of interview approaches; informal interview approach in chat form, interview form approach and standardized open-ended interview approach.This study used a standardized open-ended interview approach out of the interview approaches.This approach "consists of a set of questions carefully written and put in a certain order, and each interviewee is asked these questions in the same style and order".This approach was chosen because it reduces interviewer bias and subjectivity, although there are quite a few limitations to the flexibility of the interviewer.
The interview was conducted with the highest level of authorities and responsible people in tourism and security issues to determine the security concept to be applied specifically to touristic regions.The interview form was developed by the researchers for data collection by exchanging ideas after a detailed literature review and then a common consensus was reached.The interview form consists of seven questions presented below: In terms of general security policy and practice in tourismintensive areas, should law enforcement agencies, in particular the Gendarmerie, perform their services invisibly or visibly with an already existing concept or with a new concept to be developed?Why?
If the general security policy of the Gendarmerie in tourism-intensive areas is to serve visibly; • Does the state need a special separate uniform for the Gendarmerie in tourism-intensive areas?If any, how should it be?• Considering that tourism is a fragile sector, is there a need for different weapons, tools and equipment to be used in tourism-intensive areas?What should it be if any? • Should "tourism" be emphasized on the uniforms and equipment that Gendarmerie staff will use in tourismintensive areas?Why? • What tasks can the Gendarmerie undertake specific to tourism in tourism-intensive areas?
• What should be the qualifications that can be considered within the scope of physical, educational and gender that should be sought in the Gendarmerie staff to be employed in tourism-intensive areas?• Do the Gendarmerie staff to be employed in tourismintensive areas need to be trained on some tourismspecific subjects?What subjects should the training be on, if any?
As can be seen, the questions to be asked in the interview form are based on the fact that the Gendarmerie should perform its duties in tourism-intensive regions by adopting a visible security policy.The question "How can the Gendarmerie be visible in touristic areas if it will be visible?"covers all the relevant questions.

Data Collection
The questions in the interview form were asked by a researcher in the same way as face-to-face interviews and all participants were asked in the same order.The interviews conducted by the other two researchers were recorded with paper and pencil during the interviews.
During the data collection process, the average interview time for each person was 30-40 minutes.
In Çanakkale province, interviews with the participants lasted five days and were conducted between October 26-30, 2020; in Şanlıurfa province, interviews with the participants lasted three days and were conducted between December 13-15, 2020; in Mardin province, interviews with the participants lasted four days between December 16-19, 2020; in Muğla province, interviews lasted three days and were conducted between February 17-19, 2021; in Antalya province, interviews with the participants lasted five days and were conducted between February 22-26, 2021.As a result, a total of 135 people were interviewed face-to-face in 20 days.Due to the restrictions and prohibitions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, since most of the participants interviewed were in senior management positions and due to the difficulties with arranging appointments for interview purposes, only 6-8 participants could be interviewed in a day.In addition, the participants who thought that the Gendarmerie should perform its services invisibly adopting a general security policy and practice in tourism-intensive areas responded to only one question.

Data Analysis
Content analysis was used in the analysis of the data.The content analysis was used to identify the data and reveal the facts that may be hidden in the data.The basic process of content analysis is to combine similar data within certain concepts and themes and interpret them in a way that the reader can understand (Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2013).As can be understood from the questions in the interview form, a total of 7 themes (general security policy, uniform, equipment, awareness, duties, qualifications and training) were determined for content analysis before starting the interviews.In addition, three categories of weapons, tools and equipment were identified under the "equipment" theme, and three categories of physical, educational and gender were identified under the "education" theme.
In this context, the records kept by the two researchers with paper and pencil during the interviews were transferred to the computer environment immediately after each interview.After that, the entire recorded content was carefully read and detailed information about the content was obtained.In the second round of reading, coding was performed under certain themes and categories for each interview, and a large number of similar sets of information were collected under similar themes and categories.A third and final round of reading was performed on the remaining data set and checked for missing data.At the last stage of the process, a final check was carried out to make sure that the text under each theme and category is similar to each other.

Findings
Evaluation of the results obtained with the analysis of the data through interviews in the provinces of Antalya and Muğla, which are the most important coastal destinations of Türkiye, are presented below under relevant themes.

General Security Policy
All of the participants interviewed think that the Gendarmerie should perform its duties in tourism-intensive areas visibly.According to the participants, the visibility of the Gendarmerie does not cause discomfort to tourists and residents, it does not create the perception that an incident will happen at any time, but on the contrary, tourists and locals will feel safe.

Uniform
The majority of respondents (87%) think that the Gendarmerie should be visible in touristic areas adopting a different concept through "soft, plain, sports, modern, stylish, aesthetic, high quality and sympathetic" clothes.13% of the participants argue that the Gendarmerie should be visible with its standard uniform.According to the majority of participants, a different uniform should be preferred instead of the standard navy blue public order suit in touristic areas.The clothes to be worn should be "suitable for seasonal conditions, not fading quickly, not sweaty and comfortable".Light colours should be used in the uniform.The top of the uniform should have "a safari shirt and/or polo neck/zero collar t-shirt" instead of a shirt.As for the bottom, it can be thin "canvas trousers, bermuda or shorts".In touristic areas, "outdoor shoes" that help move more comfortably or "ankle boots" considering that it also protects the ankle should be preferred instead of black boots.Instead of a beret, "a hat with a mesh detail" should be used."A dark blue filet-detailed hat, a light blue or turquoise polo neck t-shirt, thin navy canvas trousers and half-boots" were the most delivered ones by the participants.

Equipment
The majority of respondents (75%) think that the Gendarmerie should carry a short-barreled gun instead of a long-barreled gun in tourist-intensive areas.In this context, they think that a pistol will be sufficient.According to the findings from the interviews, security units also should use luxurious vehicles which represent the power of the state and which can also add value to tourism as well as horses, motorcycles, golf cart, gingers which are easy to use in narrow streets for security purpose, and which are considered sympathetic to local people and tourist as well as standard patrol cars.The vehicles used should not cause noise on the coastline.Instead of powerful vehicles, lighter, easy-to-use, quiet and non-disturbing electric vehicles should be preferred.All the vehicles used must be in harmony with the uniform colour.

Awareness
The majority of respondents (55%) think that the emphasis should be placed on the concept of "tourism" in the uniforms and vehicles that the Gendarmerie will use in touristic areas.It is considered appropriate to write "Tourism Gendarmerie" at the back of the uniform, to emphasize "tourism" with arms to be designed, and to write "Tourism Gendarmerie" at the front and sides of vehicles in line with the same principles.Those who emphasized "tourism" in uniforms and vehicles argue that if the Gendarmerie looks like this, the discomfort of tourists will be reduced to a minimum level.If the law enforcement agency is visible in this way, tourists will think that the security forces are there for them and much importance is paid to tourism in the country, and thus they will not feel nervous.In addition, the staff on duty will also feel special and their motivation will be high.Those who defend that there should be no emphasis on "tourism" in uniforms and vehicles, on the other hand, claim that local people may be uncomfortable with this.Residents may be offended by the thought that the Gendarmerie serves only tourists rather than the local people.

Duties
In line with the findings obtained from the interviews, the staff who will work in tourism-intensive areas adopting the concept of the Tourism Gendarmerie will perform its routine patrol activities to ensure security and public order, but this unit could also perform the following duties in the touristic regions; primarily to ensure the security of tourists, to ensure coordination and information exchange with other stakeholders in the tourism and security sector, to provide tourists with information and consultancy services in the uniforms and vehicles matching with the new tourism concept, to contact with embassies/consulates if any tourist is involved in an incident or crime, to provide protocol protection services when foreign delegates or statesmen visit a touristic destination, to ensure the security of environment and forest, to ensure the field security of touristic regions including the protection of historic areas, businesses, and the control of organized tours in touristic areas, conducting data collection, recording and monitoring activities in touristic regions, to introduce the Gendarmerie for the purpose of promoting its recognition and to conduct intelligence collection activities in the touristic regions.

Qualifications
According to the findings obtained from the interviews, some qualifications should be sought in the staff who will work in tourism-intensive areas.Various qualities could be counted here in this regard; however, some of them are considered to be very important; especially the staff who will work in the field of tourism should be a good representative of the host country and culture with his/her physical appearance, must be fit and have a good heightweight ratio, and clothing must be smooth, must have strong communication skills and must be highly qualified.The staff should be chosen from those who like reading with a good intellectual capacity, who can speak a foreign language fluently.They should also be honest and the number of female staff should be more than male staff.

Education
With this research, it was found that the staff who will work in touristic regions should receive training in some subjects in addition to the professional knowledge they receive.In this context, education topics have been grouped under 20 headings.In particular, participants highlight the importance of knowing tourism jargon, vocabulary and sentence patterns to be used when communicating with a foreign crime victim or a suspect.In other words, they should have a basic vocabulary and sentence patterns, foreign language education, communication and behavioural sciences to effectively communicate with tourists.
When the findings obtained from the analysis of the data collected through the interviews in Çanakkale province, which is one of the important alternative tourism destinations, were compared with the data obtained from the analysis of the data collected through the interviews in Muğla and Antalya provinces, almost no significant difference was found between the concept to be developed for coastal tourism regions and alternative tourism regions.
Participants in Çanakkale agree with the opinions of participants in Antalya and Muğla at almost the same rate.
It is noteworthy that the use of luxury vehicles and golf carts and gingers is important in coastal tourism regions as they are perceived sympathetic, that ATVs and Jeeps could be used in alternative tourism regions as they are more compatible with the land conditions of the region, that the training of staff who will work in areas where there is intensive alternative tourism, on the region's history and culture is very important.
When the findings obtained from the analysis of the data collected through the interviews in Mardin and Şanlıurfa provinces, which are important alternative tourism destinations, and which are very security-sensitive regions, were compared with the data obtained from the analysis of the data collected through the interviews in Çanakkale province, no significant difference was found.Participants in Mardin and Şanlıurfa agree with the opinions of participants in Çanakkale at almost the same rate.

Discussion
The findings obtained in this research reveal that the Turkish Gendarmerie should serve as a visible force, whether in areas where coastal tourism and alternative tourism is popular, or in security-sensitive areas where tourism is intense.Due to the September 11, 2001, and July 15, 2016, terrorist attacks, the perception of tourism security has changed in the world and Türkiye radically.
According to the opinions of the research participants, domestic and foreign tourists and local people want to see law enforcement units around.The findings obtained from this research also revealed that the Gendarmerie should be more visible in tourism-intensive areas adopting a different concept.According to participants, the claims that tourists feel uncomfortable with the Gendarmerie serving visibly in tourist-intensive areas do not reflect the reality.However, the Gendarmerie must nevertheless maintain a balance in the issue of visibility.
According to the opinions received from the participants, the Gendarmerie should be visible in all touristic destinations in a different uniform and with different vehicles.Staff who will be employed in the concept of the Tourism Gendarmerie should wear standard uniforms, even in security-sensitive areas.The Gendarmerie can wear a navy blue hat, a turquoise polo neck t-shirt, navy canvas pants and black ankle boots in all touristic areas.Nobody should doubt that the staff wearing the uniform are Gendarmes, and it should be clear for everyone that the staff are there for the security of tourism and tourists.When viewed from distance, they should not be confused with the Municipal Police, Private Security and Watchmen.Since the majority of other law enforcement agencies consist of residents and have poor deterrence, mixing the Gendarmerie with other law enforcement agencies may negatively affect the enforcement power of the Gendarmerie.For this reason, "Tourism Gendarmerie" should be written on the back area of the uniform, arms that will be designed to emphasize tourism and Gendarmerie should be used on the uniforms.In touristic areas, it will be sufficient for the Gendarmerie to carry only short-barreled weapons and so pistols in this context.In addition to the standard patrol vehicles that have "Tourism Gendarmerie" written on the front and sides of the vehicles that have a white colour with turquoise, navy blue stripes, softer and quieter vehicles should be used in all touristic areas.In this context, electric motorcycles and horses come to the fore.The horses and vehicles used must be new and kept well maintained.The newest vehicles must first be sent to touristic areas.
The staff who will be employed in all touristic regions must take a written exam and oral interview and those with relevant qualifications should be selected.In particular, the height-weight ratio of the staff should be in balance, the physical ratio should be good, communication skills should be strong, foreign language should be fluent, the level of general knowledge should be good in addition to professional knowledge.In touristic areas, especially female Gendarmerie should be employed as much as possible.If possible, the number of female employees should be more than the number of male employees If this is not possible, it should be at least equal to the number of males.
Staff who will work in all touristic areas should also receive some training before and during their duties.In particular, tourism jargon, basic foreign language skills, which include the most commonly used words and sentence patterns in daily life and in the management of incidents and crimes in which foreign tourists are involved in, communication and public relations must be covered in the training program.For the staff who will work in the regions where alternative tourism is popular, education including the history and culture of the region should be covered in the program.It will also be very useful for tourism legislation and general tourism to be covered in educational programs.
According to the opinions received from the participants, the staff who will be employed in the Tourism Gendarmerie concept can undertake routine patrol activities as well as some tasks for the development of tourism in touristic areas.The staff can perform some other tasks such as ensuring the security of tourists and tourism in the region, the protection of historic areas, coordination among the stakeholders of the tourism and security sector and information exchange, providing tourists with tourism information at fixed points to be built in line with the concept of the Tourism Gendarmerie, providing state and foreign delegations with protection services, the introduction of the tourism and Gendarmerie.

Conclusion and Implications
In conclusion, the Turkish Gendarmerie should specialize in all touristic destinations for which it is responsible.It should perform its duties in touristic regions visibly with a different concept.To develop tourism, it should undertake various tasks with appropriate clothes, weapons, tools and equipment.It should be clear from the uniform and signs on the vehicle that it is the Tourism Gendarmerie.The staff must be qualified and trained on some issues.This study contributes to the literature in many ways.The results of this study are in line with the findings of Bayhan & Ünlüönen (2016).Bayhan & Ünlüönen (2016) support the visibility of law enforcement in touristic destinations.The most important contribution of the study is that it fills the gap in the literature since there is no empirical study on the subject.The practical contributions of the study are seen as important.In line with the findings obtained from this research, the developed recommendations for practitioners are presented below: • The Gendarmerie may see tourism security as an area not under its responsibility or as an additional workload.It can consider tourism stakeholders as primarily responsible for tourism security.However, the Gendarmerie should contribute to all sectors that are important in Türkiye.Tourism is also an important sector.To develop tourism and spread it to the public, all kinds of steps that will strengthen the Gendarmerie in an institutional sense should be considered positively.It will be useful to switch to the concept of Tourism Gendarmerie in touristic areas.First, law enforcement is responsible for many things in most developed countries.The Gendarmerie should be more active in the tourism sector, which is also one of the most important sectors in Türkiye.Tourism security, city and rural security are not the same things.Therefore, the view that the incidents involving foreign and domestic tourists and the incidents involving local people are the same could be very erroneous.A tourist's and a citizen's being victims or suspects are not the same things.The victimization that the tourist experiences become more serious.First, the consequences of incidents involving foreign tourists make more impact in Türkiye and around the world.
The follow-up of these events and the control of their consequences require more thoroughness.Since the duration of stay of foreign tourists in Türkiye is limited, transactions should be faster.In addition, some crimes are unique to tourism and they require expertise.• Among the most important tasks of the staff working within the concept of the Tourism Gendarmerie, which is to conduct promotional activities, could be the first to mention.Touristic areas are the ideal places for the promotion of Türkiye and the Gendarmerie.Both domestic and foreign tourists judge the visited state according to the law enforcement there.The Gendarmerie is the mirror of Türkiye in these regions.
The tourist judges Türkiye according to the Gendarmerie.That is why a great mission has been imposed on the Gendarmerie in the promotion of Türkiye.For these reasons, the Gendarmerie should be much more qualified in touristic destinations.In this context, it will indirectly contribute to the increase in the number of tourists and the development of tourism in that region.• To keep the system in continuous operation within the concept of the Tourism Gendarmerie, the inspection mechanism must also be well established.There should be a control unit from top to bottom.In addition to the task of inspection, these units should also undertake the tasks of monitoring and coordinating activities.The inspection mechanism will be an incentive element for Tourism Gendarmes to maintain their qualifications.The staff will be constantly tested by the inspection units about whether they have lost any of their qualifications through various methods.• Especially in popular touristic areas where security concerns are high, the Tourism Gendarmerie can provide advice so that the activities of other Gendarmerie staff do not affect tourism.• One of the most important tasks of the Tourism Gendarmerie is to help match the interests of citizens who constantly resides in touristic areas and tourists.However, to ensure this, the staff must first have a good understanding of tourism and its importance.
This research has some limitations.First, this research was conducted in five provinces in Türkiye.Care should be taken when generalizing the research results to other countries and other provinces in Türkiye.Second, the research was focused on the Gendarmerie.Results may be different for other law enforcement agencies.Third, in this study, the findings were obtained through interviews with people who are considered responsible and authority in the field of tourism and security.The opinions of local people and tourists could not be taken due to Covid-19 measures.
Although the participants made comments on behalf of the local people and tourists based on their experiences, it cannot be claimed that the findings completely reflect their views.In future studies, researchers may focus on Cappadocia, a specific place where the Gendarmerie is active.In addition, the opinions of local people and tourists should be examined in depth with more studies to be carried out in the future.In particular, whether there are differences in the opinions of residents, local and foreign tourists regarding the visibility of the Gendarmerie, and whether the opinions of foreign tourists differ based on their nationalities should be examined.Conducting further studies on the expectation of tourists from law enforcement agencies is also proposed to find out when tourists want to get to law enforcement agencies, what are the things that bother tourists in general.
Ministry of Culture and Tourism is the highest organization responsible and authorized by the central government in the tourism sector.There are Provincial Cultural and Tourism Directorates within the Governorates in all provinces.The most important stakeholders of the security sector are the Gendarmerie, the Police and the Municipal Police.The Ministry of Interior is the highest organization responsible and authorized by the central government in the security sector.There are Provincial Police Directorates and Provincial Gendarmerie Commands within the Governorates in all provinces.