دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی ارزیابی مکان های اکوتوریسم: یک تجزیه و تحلیل تصمیم چند معیاره بر اساس GIS - امرالد 2017

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential geographic locations for ecotourism activities and to select the best one among alternatives. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed model consists of four sequential phases. In the first phase, different geographic criteria are determined based on existing literature, and data are gathered using GIS. On equal criteria weighing, alternative locations are determined using GIS in the second phase. In the third phase, the identified criteria are weighted using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) by various stakeholders of potential ecotourism sites. In the fourth phase, the PROMETHEE method is applied to determine the best alternative based on the weighted criteria. Findings – A framework including four sequential steps is proposed. Using real data from the Black Sea region in Turkey, the authors test the applicability of the evaluation approach and compare the best alternative obtained by the proposed method for nine cities in the region. Consequently, west of Sinop, east of Artvin and south of the Black Sea region are determined as very suitable locations for ecotourism. Research limitations/implications – The first limitation of the study is considered the number of included criteria. Another limitation is the use of deterministic parameters that do not cope with uncertainty. Further research can be conducted for determining the optimum locations for different types of tourism, e.g. religion tourism, hunting tourism and golf tourism, for effective tourism planning. Practical implications – The proposed approach can be applied to all area that cover the considered criteria. The approach has been tested in the Black Sea region (nine cities) in Turkey. Social implications – Using the proposed approach, decision-makers can determine locations where environmentally responsible travel to natural areas to enjoy and appreciate nature that promotes conservation have a low visitor impact and provide for beneficially active socioeconomic involvement of local individuals. Originality/value – To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first study which applies a GIS-based multi-criteria decision-making approach for ecotourism site selection.

6. Conclusion

Ecotourism is now the world’s fastest growing segment in terms of tourism. People want to experience the world but they should try to do it in a way that doesn’t affect the natural environment negatively. Thus, many conservative programs are being followed by countries that especially beneficiary of tourism. As we speak for Turkey, The Ministry of Culture and Tourism determined the Black Sea region to be developed primarily about biodiversity and ecotourism for 2023 tourism targets. In this regard, this paper aims to determine the most suitable ESs in Black Sea region of Turkey. Thus, a scientific four-step solution approach is developed for determining the ESs.

First, 14 indicators are determined for site selection, later these indicators are entered into GIS. Then criteria are prioritized by AHP and lastly, potential sites are ranked by using PROMETHEE. When we look at the site selection indicators it is seen that the factor having the highest priority is “vegetation diversity” and the lowest priority belongs to “temperature”. This means the tourists can visit the ecotourism sites regardless of the weather temperature but they are very keen on vegetation diversity meaning that they desire to see very different kinds of vegetation. In the frame of dimensions, while “land use” has the highest importance rate, lowest rate belongs to “climate” dimension. One limitation of the study can be that; these importance rates are determined by local tourism experts and they are determined especially for this area. But any research can be done with the same technique but using close outlines. As a result of the study, west of Sinop, east of Artvin are determined as very suitable locations for ecotourism among 27 alternatives. On the contrary, the middle of Trabzon and Rize are determined as unsuitable locations. Both Sinop and Artvin are small cities that have waterfalls, natural parks, wildlife ecology and rural tourism sites etc. Although these areas have more than enough resources for ecotourism, they made no headway because of ineffective publicity or less of investment.