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, the opinions of 135 participants with high authority in the field of tourism and security were received in five different provinces through an interview form created for this study. Content analysis was used in the analysis of the data. The findings obtained with this analysis were interpreted under seven themes: general security policy, uniform, equipment, awareness, duty, qualification, and training. According to the findings of the research, the Turkish Gendarmerie should serve visibly in touristic destinations with a different security concept. In the light of the findings obtained with this study, various recommendations were presented to practitioners and researchers in tourism and security field.