Determination of rural tourism potential of Kızık villages in bursa and assessment of the potential with regard to urban recreation

Globalization has been increasing its impact on economic and social life, depending on the changes in technology. Today, one of the most important problems in the world is rapid urbanization and extreme structuring which causes to destroy the existing natural areas. This change in social life influences human life on the physical and psychological dimension for a long time. Therefore, people who want to move away from their daily lifestyle tend to visit rural areas where they can renew themselves psychologically by participating in short-term or daily physical activities during a certain period of the year. Thus, the rural areas that close to the city centers, which are potential recreation area with the natural and historical texture, gain value as a tourism center. Some of Kızıl villages in Bursa are selected as our study area that consists of Cumalıkızık, Hamamlıkızık and Derekızık villages because they still have been protecting their countryside features with its rich history and natural beauties. However, Fidyekızık and Değirmenlikızık settlements, which have been handled in the context of rural tourism, have lost their rural characteristics due to their proximity to the city center which causes these villages to have excessive urbanization and dense population. For this reason, these villages are excluded from our study area. The primary aim of this study of to determine the rural tourism potential of the Kizik's villages and to evaluate the potential of these villages regarding the urban recreational tourism. For the data collection phase, field research and literature review were conducted, and some necessary documents were obtained from the relevant government agency. The participants of this study are visitors, the local villagers, and artisans. Thus, the three analysis units of the research are visitors, local villagers, and artisans. While a questionnaire was applied to the visitors as the random sampling face to face interview technique, the same questionnaire was applied to the local villagers and artisans as the face to face interview technique. The research is mixed-pattern research with 470 people. First-hand data were analyzed by SPSS 21 program and evaluated. Besides, SWOT analysis has been done to reveal the tourism potential of the Kızık villages that consists of our study area. The findings of the research show that tourism opportunities of the Kizik villages are not profited to the desired level, and the existing potential of these villages can be improved with alternative recreational activities. For instance, the hiking trails to the Küreklidere Waterfall in Derekızık and Hamamlıkızık villages, the hobby gardens in Derekızık and Cumalıkızık agricultural areas, the horse rides and bicycle tours can be performed from villages through the foothills of the Uludağ, arranging of the weeks belonging to various local traditions, and organizing of festivals belonging to local products were stated by the visitors as the recreational activities. Diversification of the service areas in the villages, introduction to the villages and promotion of the advertisement are the primary things to be done for the rural tourism development. According to the artisans who participated in the questionnaire, the natural and unimpaired environment, historical and cultural values, and the traditional architecture are the most significant elements that attract visitors. However, the village artisans emphasize that their villages are inadequate in terms of hospitality and service provision and they state that there are new investment plans in these villages. According to the results of the questionnaire, it can be seen that the investments planned especially in Cumalıkızık are aimed to improve accommodation such as house pension. In Derekizik, the attraction of natural environment reveals day-to-day tourism. All of the artisans are predominantly desire visitors to visit their villages during the whole weekdays rather than just weekends. To increase the number of visitors, primarily, advertising should be done, and the service areas should be varied. Village artisans think tourism as an alternative economic activity and a source of living against the ever-decreasing agriculture and animal husbandry. For this reason, village artisans want to lease land to camp in the gardens they own, build bungalow houses, and develop gardening tourism. The local villagers and artisans think that day-to-day visits should be transformed into short-term tourism in the Kizik villages where tourism has begun to develop as an important sector. Especially, the increase in the number of visitors and the spreading of the visits from weekends to every day can allow the preservation of the existing values of the villages. Besides, the local villagers and artisans have begun to pay more attention to the attractive values of the villages. Also, they think tourism as an activity to reduce economic worries, and so they support the local public incentive efforts. The development of rural tourism in Kizik villages will also provide economic and social development. Thus, it will contribute to the resolution of such problems in these villages.