Eskişehir province hiking and trekking routes within the scope of ecotourism

A uniform perception of tourism (sea, sand, sun) is adopted throughout the world and in Turkey, and therefore it is seen that resources are rapidly disappearing. The aim of preventing the destruction caused by mass tourism, people's longing for nature, environmental pollution, stressful life of cities, and the increase in the relative awareness and consciousness level, including in developing societies, create new needs as a reaction to the classical understanding of tourism. Ecotourism, which is one of the examples of alternative tourism, is a type of tourism based on sustainability rather than concepts based on consumption, and nature walks have an important place among the elements of Ecotourism. People's tendency to move, explore new places, watch beautiful views, health, well-being and listening to themselves, instead of being confined to hotels or many different accommodation establishments, increases this demand. Research conducted as a result of these needs shows that Eskişehir has many walking routes of various levels and difficulties that can be preferred in all seasons of the year. As a subheading of ecotourism, based on the benefits of nature walks on physical and mental health, greater recognition and dissemination of hiking and trekking activities are important in terms of creating a healthy society with a high level of intellectual and awareness, as well as their contribution to tourism. In this thesis, Hiking and Trekking activities which are a type of ecotourism are examined within the borders of Eskişehir province; It is aimed to research their contributions to ecotourism, to guide local and foreign visitors by showing the routes on maps, and to introduce the trails. In the study, field scanning was carried out through geographical information systems and the findings were mapped. Routes were examined in 5 sections: Bozdağ Region, Türkmen Dağı Region, Eskişehir Kent Ormanı Route, Urban Historical Route, and Yazılıkaya (Phrygian Valley) Route. As a result, new routes and many touristic attractions on these routes apart from the existing routes have been identified in Eskişehir province and their use has been suggested.