Residents' attitude and empowerment in sustainable tourism: The case of Boğazkale

Sustainable tourism can be defined as an approach that prioritizes economic development, protection of socio-cultural and environmental resources, meeting the needs of residents and visitors, and shapes the life course of destinations. Stakeholders are of critical importance for the sustainability of tourism in a destination and understanding the perceptions and attitudes of residents towards tourism is one of the most important issues in tourism research. In this context, empowering the residents in tourism and including them in the decisions and planning are important components of sustainable tourism. In this study, the perceptions and attitudes of the residents of Boğazkale district towards the effect and development of tourism were examined by the Social Exchange Theory (SET) and Weber's Theory of Formal and Substantive Rationality (WTFSR) based on Economic Benefit from Tourism and Community Empowerment in Tourism (psychological, social and political). In this context, the models and hypothesis proposed in the research were tested by analyzing the data obtained from 311 questionnaires applied to Boğazkale residents with the Structural Equation Model (SEM). Also, the life course of the destination is an another important point in sustainable tourism which includes many dimensions. The life course of the destination which starts with discovery phase continues to collapse due to various reasons. The continuation of the life course of the destination, the postponement of the collapse stage or the revitalization of the destination that is in the collapse stage depends on the determination of the tourism development of the destinations and what kind of development they follow. In this study, it was aimed to determine the applicability of the Butler (1980) "The Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC)" model in Boğazkale, which is an important destination in terms of cultural heritage tourism and is included in the UNESCO Cultural Heritage List and World Memory List. For this purpose, it was tried to analyze what life course Boğazkale destination is in within the scope of Butler (1980) "The Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC)" model and to determine the perceptions and attitudes of the stakeholders living in the destination towards the economic, socio-cultural and environmental effects of tourism. Also, this study makes recommendations to planners, policy makers and managers about the destination.