The role of the relationship of cultural sensitivity and emotional solidarity in local people's attitudes to tourism development: The case of Şanlıurfa

Due to its nature, the tourism sector has many effects with its economic, environmental and socio-cultural dimensions. The interaction between local people and tourists in tourism destinations is important for the development of tourism activities in the region. The nature of these interactions affects the attitudes of local people towards tourism and tourists. Positive interactions can cause local people to develop a positive attitude towards tourism and contribute to the positive development of tourism activities. For example, positive interactions with tourists can lead to greater support from locals to tourism and a warmer welcome to tourists. In turn, negative interactions can lead to local people developing a negative attitude towards tourism and even a tendency to limit or stop tourism activities. For example, factors such as communication problems with tourists, cultural conflicts or excessive consumption of local resources may cause local people to have a more critical attitude towards tourism activities. These interactions have been studied within the framework of various theories and models. Recently, approaches such as emotional solidarity theory, cultural sensitivity development model, and theories of local people's perspective have come to the fore as theoretical frameworks for understanding and managing interactions between tourism and local people. Emotional solidarity reflects the tendency of local people to warmly welcome and help tourists, while cultural sensitivity aims to preserve local culture and share it with tourists. In this research, it is aimed to examine the role of cultural sensitivity and emotional solidarity in the attitudes of local people towards tourism development. For this purpose, a survey was conducted for the local people living in Şanlıurfa and data were collected from 519 people. Research variables were examined based on a model developed based on theoretical knowledge. Structural equation modeling was used to test the research hypotheses regarding the model. In addition, the mediating role of emotional solidarity as the third variable in the relationship between structural equation modeling and cultural sensitivity and attitude towards tourism development was examined. In line with the basic assumptions, a significant effect of local people's cultural sensitivity on their attitudes towards the effects of tourism; a significant and positive relationship between the cultural sensitivity of the local people and the levels of emotional solidarity towards local and foreign visitors visiting the destination; It has been determined that the level of emotional solidarity of the local people towards the visitors has a significant and positive effect on their attitudes towards the effects of tourism. As a result of the research; It is seen that the level of cultural sensitivity and emotional solidarity for domestic visitors is higher than for foreign visitors. This shows that local people have a more positive attitude towards tourism in terms of local visitors and tend to form an emotional bond with local visitors. However, statistically significant differences were obtained between the specific characteristics of the participants regarding the socio-cultural structure of Şanlıurfa and the research variables. With the effect of research variables that support each other in the attitudes of local people towards tourism effects, it is seen that local people can better cope with tourism effects and help them contribute to tourism in a sustainable way. Keywords: Cultural Sensitivity, Emotional Solidarity, Attitude Towards Tourism Impacts, Local People, Şanlıurfa