Sustainable tourism planning in the historical environments: Case of Diyarbakir – historical Surici region

Population growth across the world leads to growth in consumption values accordingly. This situation causes continuous damage to the environment or puts the environment in a process of destruction. This culture of destruction which has continued for a long period of time has recently reached serious levels due to the increasing advancements in technology and industrialization becoming a gigantic sector. Such destruction not only damages the environment, but also affects historical environments and includes numerous inheritances such as economic and socio-cultural values. Today, tourism is one of the powers triggering such destruction. Tourism currently becomes an enormous industry and a significant economic power. However, wrong tourism policies and related errors of usage caused by this situation have had effects on destruction process of both natural and historical environments. As a consequence of the destruction experienced, the necessity for preservation of existing values has been much better understood in the course of time and there has been a gradually growing awareness in this respect. Increasing awareness related to the preservation subsequently brought about the concept of "sustainability" based on ensuring sustainability of such values without any harm throughout generations. This concept can apply to numerous sectors and constantly extend its area of usage at the present time. However; awareness in this direction needs to increase without interruption. One of the sectors in which such awareness bears importance is tourism. One of the practice areas of tourism planning studies should be sustainability. It is widely acknowledged in many environments that the destruction caused by tourism may only be prevented through planning studies arranged within a sustainable understanding. Due to the wrong tourism policies pursued, harmful effects of tourism can be intensively experienced particularly in the historical environments. Sustainable tourism planning to be made for these environments will ensure preservation of such environments for handing them down to next generations without any harm and provide a significant economic income by evaluating historical environments better with the help of tourism. In the first section of the study; the purpose, scope and method of the study are explained. The following section of the study which generally focuses on the concept of sustainability examines subjects of sustainability, tourism, and sustainable tourism; and then sustainable tourism planning in the historical environments is reviewed. In the next section of the study which contains the field survey, Diyarbakır – Suriçi region is examined and it is attempted to make recommendations that may constitute a basis for a sustainable tourism planning for this region. Suriçi region having a deep-rooted history currently lacks the touristic attraction that it deserves. Moreover, the region has been exposed to illegal and unplanned housing at significant levels due to the dense immigration to the region for a long time. Various reasons such as wrong tourism and preservation policies pursued and economic and political issues of the region prevented the historical Suriçi region from becoming a significant economic and cultural power both for the city and the region and benefiting from tourism sufficiently. This situation led to select this region as the field of study. Within this scope; the city of Diyarbakır and historical Suriçi region was examined initially. The general information and touristic information about the region were reviewed primarily. After the region was defined; it was attempted to form actions that may be implemented. It is emphasized in this study that it is required to make sustainable tourism plannings for Diyarbakır – Suriçi region. It is also aimed to offer provide various recommendations for the purpose of providing assistance to the studies regarding production of right tourism policies in the historical environments.