Rural tourism is considered as one of the essential elements making significant contributions to rural development in many developing countries. A well planned and adequately operated rural tourism sector provides job opportunities for local people, increases living standards, alleviates poverty, prevents migration, and ultimately makes it possible for rural people to enjoy living at their original places of residencies. All of these benefits encourage governments and all other relevant stakeholders to put more emphasis on rural tourism activities when planning and to implement rural development programs. The primary aim of this study was to examine the opportunities of sustainable rural tourism in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey. It based on an extensive review of related literature, governmental reports, and experiences and observations of the researchers in the region. The study revealed that the Eastern Black Sea region has a remarkable rural tourism potential and it will make significant contributions to rural development in Turkey. Particularly highlands, thermal hotels, rural activities, farms, and agribusiness are increasingly attracting many domestic and international tourists in every passing year. However, environmental dimension of rural tourism is under risk because of unplanned housing and road constructions which put more pressure on agricultural lands and rural landscape. For this reason, it is important to consider economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability when preparing and implementing rural tourism programs for the region
55139 Turkey
Development, in general, is defined as to regulate a
nation's economy to expose improvements in
desirable ways. More broadly it is defined as any
kinds of desired changes and improvements in
economic, social, and political situations of a
country [
Rural tourism is considered as a sub-category of
alternative tourism. A sustainable rural tourism
sector can be easily integrated with other types of
tourism as it is consistent with rural culture, natural
environment, and agricultural life. Therefore, rural
tourism, enriched with various local, national and
international initiatives, attracts people to the
countryside for vacation [
Sustainable rural tourism should primarily cover
tourism activities that do not allow the above
features to deteriorate. In this context, by using the
economic opportunities of the rural areas, it
increases the quality of life of the people living
there, protects the natural environment and ensures
that the tourists visiting the rural areas have a good
time here. According to the reviewed literature, to
be sustainable, rural tourism must be carried out
considering three main dimensions which are (1)
economic (2) sociocultural and (3) and
environmental dimension [
Socio-cultural dimension: Social and cultural
coexistences between rural and urban people are
increasing with the development of rural tourism.
First of all, information exchange is possible when
people living in urban areas arrange visits to the
countryside. Both sides become familiar with their
lifestyles, traditions, and cultures [
Environmental dimension: While trying to increase
the contributions that rural tourism makes to the
rural economy, governments may face difficulties in
protecting natural resources and the environment,
mainly if the demand for visitors is exceptionally
high. In this case, if short-term profitability is kept
in the foreground, in the areas, where small-scale
rural tourism is possible with the present conditions,
will probably be disappeared in the long run. The
pressure to develop rural tourism intensively has led
to the transformation of this business into mass
tourism and has led to the establishment of new
parks, conference centers, holiday villages and
recreational areas in the countryside. The insatiable
desires of mankind to utterly capitalize on the
natural features of rural areas with capitalist
thinking, over time, cause these areas to deteriorate
and face significant environmental problems.
Research conducted in rural tourism activities
showed that small-scale tourism businessmen in the
countryside are quite satisfied with the visitors as
they are highly interested in their business,
homemade food items, handicrafts, and their way of
living in rurality. On the other hand, they expect
more public services such as better roads for
transportation, regular garbage collection by the
municipalities, and other related social services [
Since this study was intended to be carried out as qualitative research, the primary material used was AH-2018-115 information provided by a review of the related literature and experiences and observations of the researchers in the region. In this sense journal articles, books, institutional reports, and the Internet were extensively utilized. The paper was organized considering the primary purpose and specific objectives of the study. Therefore, the concept of rural tourism, its importance in rural development, its fundamental elements, characteristics, and dimensions was explained in the introduction section. Then a general description of the Black Sea Region, rural tourism destinations and opportunities in the region, and sustainable tourism indicators for the area were examined. The study concludes with a set of recommendations for developing a long-term sustainable rural tourism sector for the region.
The Black Sea Region is on the northern border of Turkey. It includes three parts, namely, the eastern, the central, and the western black sea regions. This region stretches along the Black Sea from the west side of Turkey's northern border. The area continues from the east of the Sakarya province to the edge of Georgia. On the shores of the Black Sea region, the mountains extend parallel to the sea. Because of this, moisture cannot go to the inner zone, so there is a lot of rainfall. Due to over-precipitation, the region is often covered with forests, and there is a lot of greenery. As there are many rivers and lakes, streaming tourism is developed and widely used. It is stunning as compared to other regions because it is abundant in mountains, highlands, forests, pastures, rivers, national parks, and individual farms, growing mostly tea and hazelnuts. For this reason, nature tourism has remarkable potential, and all of these destinations need to be seen and visited. There are also many historical beauties in the Black Sea region. For example, the Monastery of Sumela is famous as the place where the graves of the kings are located. The rivers are very convenient for sports such as rafting which has become very popular in the river Coruh. Historical monuments in Trabzon (Sumela Monastery) and Amasya (King's graves) constitute essential tourism potentials of the region. Rural tourism efforts in the region will consider the major components of the natural beauties, historical sites, socioeconomic characteristics, and cultural heritage of the area.
Tourism establishments in the Eastern Black Sea Region are presented in Table 1. Trabzon is the most developed and attractive city in the region as the numbers of establishments, rooms, and beds are quite higher than other cities. The provincial and district municipalities in the region also have many establishments which aren't included in this table. Trabzon is a metropolitan city with an international airport, harbor, universities, and many historical and natural places. In addition to two states and one private university in Trabzon, every other city in the region has also a state university. The second international airport in the region constructed two years ago between the provinces of Ordu and Giresun. Another one is being built on the coastal area of Rize. Since the region is expected to attract domestic and international tourists in increasing numbers in the future, more establishments and facilities will be needed in each province and even in each district.
The number of domestic and international tourists visiting the region is increasing from year to year. As it can be followed from Table 2, in 2015 the number of tourists checked in the tourism establishments exceeded 1.6 million. In addition to the natural beauties it has, the availability of cultural, historical and local components, and the sincerity of the local people will make this region more attractive for tourists in the future. The region welcomes millions of local and foreign tourists, especially for the tourists coming from the Gulf countries, it has become a shining star of tourism by reaching a capacity of 7 thousand beds (including the municipality establishments) with 4-5-star hotel investments made in the last few years.
The Eastern Black Sea region has many rural tourism destinations which are presented in Table 3. Different themes, such as winter tourism, plateau tourism, beaches, and thermal tourism are possible. In terms of conventional tourism, the region isn't as attractive as the southern and western coastal cities of Turkey, but in terms of plateaus and mountains, it has quite more advantages than those cities of other regions. Therefore, for the future development plans and policies, more emphasis must be placed on countryside tourism for this region.
Sustainability indicators for the tourism sector in
the region
To evaluate rural tourism opportunities for a region
in a long-term span, various sustainable indicators
were developed by different organizations around
the world. The World Tourism Organization
AH-2018-116
0
Source: DOKAP Eylem Plani 2014-2018 [
Social Indicators: Women employment; social effects of tourism on employment; education level of employees in tourism businesses; information on local culture and protecting cultural heritage; the nature, variety, and numbers of cultural settings; net migration rate; general status of contemporary, traditional, and monumental heritage; tourism services provided for disabled; and general status of health services.
Environmental Indicators: Gathering, reusing, and recycling of solid wastes; emission level and pollutants of the atmosphere; sustainable management of reforestation and erosion control work; ecosystem sensitivity; capacity and usability of renewable energy reserves and networks; quality of drinkable water; and natural resource use in tourism areas.
Physical Planning and Control Indicators: Efficiency in planning, control and management systems and institutional consultancy and communication effort.
The recent developments in the rural tourism sector of the Eastern Black Sea Region imply that this sector will make significant contributions to local people and Turkey at large. However, longterm plans and programs must be developed considering the impact of these indicator. Otherwise, excessive and intensive use of rural areas can disrupt AH-2018-117 Rize Yusufeli
Camlihemsin Ispir Artvin Bayburt Giresun Dereli
Giresun, Dereli
Winter Beach Plateau Plateau
Plateau Plateau, Winter, Thermal Beach Winter
Macka Tonya, Kurtun
Plateau Plateau ecological balance by destroying agricultural, natural and cultural sites. This may end up with changes in agricultural production patterns, and diminishes in yield and productivity. Reduced productivity in agriculture can accelerate rural tourism, which is one of the alternative income sources in the beginning.
Artvin Kackar Tourism Center Artvin (TC) Erzurum Artvin Kafkasor Artvin Bayburt Kop Mountain TC Bayburt Giresun Aksu TC Giresun Giresun Kumbet Plateau TC Giresun Giresun Yavuzkemal Plateau Giresun TC Gumushane Cakirgol Sports TC Gumushane Winter Sports TC Gumushane Zigana TC Ordu Akkus Argin Plateau TC Ordu Aybasti Persembe Plateau TC Ordu Aybasti Toygar Ordu Kabaktepe TC Ordu Bolaman TC Ordu Ordu Cambasi Plateau TC Ordu Gumushane Ordu Ordu
Plateau Ordu Mesudiye Topcam Plateaus Ordu-Fatsa-Cerkezler Rize Anzer TC Rize Camlihemsin Thermal TC Keyfalan
Ordu
Rize
Ayder Rize
Rize Cayeli TC Rize
Rize İkizdere Ovit Mountain Rize
Winter Sports TC
Trabzon Arakli Pazarcik Trabzon
Plateau TC
Trabzon Arakli TC Trabzon
Trabzon Arakli Yesilyurt Trabzon
Yilanta Plateau TC
Trabzon Giresun Sis Mountain Trabzon
TC
Trabzon Macka Solma TC Trabzon
Trabzon Tonya Armutlu, Trabzon,
Gumushane Kurtun Erikbeli Gumushane
Source: DOKAP Eylem Plani 2014-2018. [
The environmental dimension of rural tourism in
the region is closely related to sustainable farming
activities. Sustainability in farming sector requires
farmers who have more frequent contact with
extension services, higher education, ownership of
land, and greater access to information [
Above all, successful planning, management, monitoring and evaluation of the rural tourism sector is very important for sustainable economic, socio-cultural and environmental aspects of the country's economy. It cannot be said that rural tourism in the Eastern Black Sea Region has sufficient infrastructure. The sector generally consists of small businesses with sustainable income at risk. Therefore, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of various projects considering all of the dimensions of this sector is essential. AH-2018-119