Determining suitable places for golf tourism in Eskişehir province

As time passes golf emerges as a sports tourism activity that becomes more interested in and increases its importance in tourism. With each passing year, countries has been trying to increase their golf courses. Being physically suitable for all age groups makes golf attractive for everyone. The aim of this study is to determine suitable places for golf tourism in Eskişehir. In addition to the historical, cultural and natural attractions Eskisehir has, offering the opportunity of golf tourism to tourists will increase the attraction of the city. The fact that visitors coming for golf tourism show demand for other attractions will prepare the ground for the development of tourism activities in the province on a large scale. In the study, it was tried to determine suitable places for the golf course by applying weighted overlap analysis with Geographic Information Systems. Before performing weighted overlay analysis, Analytical Hierarchy Process was applied to determine the weight values of the parameters to be used in the study. In addition to the existence of suitable areas for the golf course in parts throughout the province, it can be seen that there are many suitable places in the western parts. It has been observed that there are the widest suitable areas at the intersection of Sivrihisar, Günyüzü districts and Ankara border in the east of the province. In addition to these, places suitable for golf courses stand out along the Sakarya River.