The evaluation of cittaslow directors on Cittaslow movement and sustainability

Cittaslow Movement which develops rapidly around the world has also begun to progress in Turkey in recent years. This movement is turning into an important tool for our cities to become sustainable destinations. In this context, cittaslow managers, who are coordinators and stakeholders in expansion of the movement, have great importance. The aim of this study is to reveal the assessments of cittaslow managers regarding the destination and cittaslows, in terms of cittaslows' objectives, criteria, involvement process and sustainability by putting forth their profiles. Within the scope of the study, the data collection instrument was developed by literature review and expert opinions. The population of this study contains directors of cittaslows. Surveys were delivered to whole population (167 managers) of the study, 70 responses were received. In addition to the descriptive statistics; Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H tests were used in the analysis of the obtained data. In guidance of study findings, profiles of cittaslow managers were determined. Objectives of cittaslows were classified according to their severity and their criteria were classified in accordance with their degree of difficulty by the managers. Evaluation of managers regarding involvement in cittaslow movement were identified, contribution of cittaslows to sustainability and the sustainability of the destination were evaluated by the directors. Finally, the conclusions and the implications were discussed in detail on the basis of study findings, in addition to contribute the literature and suggestions were made for Turkey on developing cittaslow movement and the directors who want to participate Cittaslow Movement. Keywords: Slow movement, Cittaslow, Sustainability, Directors of Cittaslow.