Edirne within the Scope of Sustainable Tourism and the Attitude of Local People

Abstract

It is important that local people have positive attitudes in sustainable development of tourism activities at international level. The evaluation of the attitudes of the local people provides the predictions about their expectations or satisfaction with tourism. In this respect, it also helps tourism stakeholders in planning and conducting sustainable tourism steps. The aim of the study is to evaluate the attitudes of Edirne local people towards sustainable tourism development with demographic characteristics. The research was conducted on 28 January - 5 April 2019. During this period, data of 457 participants from the Edirne universe were obtained by survey method. Data were collected through the internet and face-to-face interviews. As a result of the research, it was seen that the local people had high participation in the statements about sustainable tourism development. In terms of demographic characteristics, it is seen that they have a similar participation in expressions of environmental, social and economic dimensions. With similar attitudes tourism is expected to have positive economic, social and environmental impacts. Therefore, it is predicted that local people with positive attitudes will exhibit positive behaviors towards the current tourism development and support sustainable tourism development.