The Denizli Audio Guide Mobile Application project, led by Prof. Dr. Serkan Bertan, was developed within the scope of TÜBİTAK-funded projects titled “Transmission of Natural and Cultural Heritage” and “Reasons for the Inability to Integrate Cultural Heritage with Tourism: Development of Personalized Travel Planning and Recommendation Systems.” The project focused on creating region-specific thematic routes, maps, and supplementary itineraries. The planning process involved a holistic mapping approach, where QR codes were generated for sub-themes to determine the locations and routes of touristic values. The project was branded with the slogan “Discover Denizli” and included the design of a logo and QR code-embedded signage.

Denizli, which hosts numerous natural and cultural heritage assets, is represented in the application with themes such as Walking and Cycling Denizli City Tours, Museums, Hidden Villages, Living Human Treasures, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Handcrafted Mosques, Caravanserais, Historic Cities and Structures, Caves, Plateaus, Canyons, Waterfalls, Lakes, Denizli Gastronomy (GastroDenizli), ancient cities including Laodicea, Tripolis, Tabae, and Attouda, the Pamukkale-Hierapolis Archaeological Site, Honaz Mountain National Park, Vineyard Routes, Lavender Fields, Denizli Ski Center, and Balloon/Paragliding activities.

Prof. Dr. Bertan stated, “The mobile application offers the opportunity to explore Denizli in a structured list format.”

Providing further details, Prof. Dr. Serkan Bertan, Dean of the Faculty of Tourism at Pamukkale University, explained: “The application features images, locations, and audio descriptions of tourism values. Users can select these values via an interactive map. By swiping horizontally on the screen, users can browse the Denizli tourism inventory. The main screen displays images corresponding to the above thematic categories, and tapping on the images activates the audio narration for each value. The application includes options to share listened content on social media, view the current location, pause, rewind or fast-forward the audio, see the duration of the audio recording, view images, access detailed descriptions, and find other places to visit under the same theme in list format. The app facilitates the exploration of Denizli in a sequential manner. The first theme in the Denizli Audio Guide project is the ‘Walking Denizli City Tour’ route. Subsequent themes include Cycling Denizli City Tour, Museums, Hidden Villages, Living Human Treasures, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Handcrafted Mosques, Caravanserais, Historic Cities and Structures, Caves, Plateaus, Canyons, Waterfalls, Lakes, Denizli Gastronomy (GastroDenizli), Laodicea, Tripolis, Tabae and Attouda Ancient Cities and Hisar Village, Pamukkale-Hierapolis Archaeological Site, Honaz Mountain National Park, Vineyard Routes, Lavender Fields, Denizli Ski Center, and Balloon/Paragliding activities.”