Community Based Tourism in Destination Management: A Research in Burdur and Isparta Region

Abstract

Being one of the alternative tourism models, community-based tourism is one of the strategies focusing on the society, aiming to benefit the local people more from tourism activities and supporting the control by local communities. In the community-based tourism model, several aspects such as the participation of local people in tourism planning and management within the region, bottom-up planning, supporting local entrepreneurship and qualifying the tourism activities in the region with a sustainable approach are highly important. In recent years, along with the increase in tourism demand in Burdur and Isparta region, travel agencies started to consider this region as a common destination and accordingly, arranged tour programs. In this regard, interviews were conducted with 16 participants in tourism related tasks and studies in order to determine the management and planning studies in tourism development and to present prominent tourism activities in Burdur and Isparta region. The results of the interviews were evaluated with descriptive analysis and content analysis, and the data were analyzed with MAXQDA 2018 software program. Consequently, the study examines the relationships between destination management and communitybased tourism themes. In particular, it was determined that employment and local investments would increase with the development of tourism activities in the region. Thus, economic strengthening of the region will be ensured. In addition, the results of prioritizing local entrepreneurship and supporting local entrepreneurship have been achieved in the investments to be made in the tourism sector in the region. In order to prevent the negative effects of tourism activities on the natural environment in the region, the importance of sustainable destination management is emphasized through planning and management studies.