The Importance of Natural and Historical Environment in Sustainable Competitive Advantage of a Tourism Destination: Çanakkale Case

Abstract

With the increase of domestic and international tourism movements, new destinations also enter the tourist market which are seeking to generate income from tourism, and competition between countries and destinations is increasing day by day. The basic questions of the research are; What are the requirements for the tourism destination to provide a sustainable competitive advantage? What is the importance of the natural and historical environment at this point? The research method of the study; is qualitative research method, based on archive/document scanning and observation. In this study; firstly, competition, sustainable competition concepts are explained, and it is tried to reveal advantageous and disadvantageous aspects of Çanakkale as a tourism destination by focusing on the importance of sustainable tourism by conducting literature search. Later, it is tried to reveal, however mining exploration and processing activities, and thermal power plants can affect natural and historical environment of Çanakkale as a tourism destination. According to the research results, intensive mining activities and thermal power plant investments in Çanakkale harms the natural texture and historical heritage of the province. In the long-term, negative consequences such as air, water, soil pollution and soil loss will adversely affect both public health and quality of life and sustainable tourism development.