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Wars all over the world have changed the course of history, affected communities and ways of life, and caused much pain, sadness, and destruction. Today, these areas are seen as tourist attractions and are visited by many people with different motivations every year. In these travels, which are described as battlefield tourism, intermediary institutions serve as a bridge between the consumer and the producer, in other words, between the tourist and the touristic product. In this section, first the factors that have led people to travel throughout history are discussed, and then the history, purposes, activities, and importance and contributions of intermediary institutions within the tourism industry are explained. Afterward, battlefield tourism, a relatively new concept, was mentioned, and the importance of intermediary institutions in travels to battlefields was explained. Finally, intermediary institutions that organize tours to various major battlefields in the world are listed, and brief descriptive information is given about the wars in question and the tours organized to these areas.

Although the definition and classification of special interest tourism may prove difficult or misleading, certain tourist attractions, motives, and scale clearly indicate the niche markets of those individuals specifically interested in certain activities and destinations. The nature, benefits, and limitations of special interest tourism can readily be studied in contrast with mass tourism. The former largely indicates creative recreation, a search for meaning, existential authenticity, cocreation of transformative experiences, and satisfaction of higher needs. The visitor engages in the self, the novel cultural center, and the environment in a deeper sense, resulting in self-improvement/realization, cultural integration, strong sense of place, memorable experiences, and ultimately competitive advantage for the destination. These cases of tourism activity offer product diversification, alleviate tourism congestion and are also usually less detrimental and more sustainable for the destination. However, the small scale and impermanence of special interest tourism appeal may raise questions of profitability, where planning and product development require more time and resources, and this singular item production is not standardizable as in mass tourism. The search and conveyance of meaning in special interest tourism may also lead to a pretentious over-glorification, shrinification, or museification of the destination. Lastly, unethical motivations or potentially dangerous activities may be associated with some forms of special interest, which should clearly be discouraged.

This chapter discusses the basic motivations, benefits, and limitations of special interest tourism, largely in opposition with mass tourism.

This study aims to fill the lack of quantitative studies of user preferences in quasi-public spaces to observe the use of quasi-public spaces by questioning the contemporary needs of urban communities and to develop design strategies accordingly.

Within the scope of this study, public space design elements affecting users' preferences in the quasi-public spaces of the Podium Park shopping center in Bursa, Turkey were evaluated. By considering the spatial characteristics of the study area, 4 main and 15 subcriteria were determined and utilized by analytic hierarchy process (AHP). These criteria were evaluated by experts and locals with a participatory approach.

According to the obtained results, “events” (S2), “sun/shade” (C2), “safety” (P3) and “planting” (U4) subcriteria were determined as the vital elements for quasi-public spaces.

Although the concept of quasi-public space has been discussed for nearly 30 years, it has been observed that there are no quantitative studies to determine the criteria of user preferences in these open spaces in the literature. This study is the first quantitative research for user preferences in quasi-public spaces and there is no previous study on this subject and study area in Turkey.