The perception of ecotourism by local people the example of Alanya region

Ecotourism is an alternative type of tourism that is developed by preserving the natural and socio-cultural environment, which helps local people to benefit from the economic development that ecotourism has created. It is important to ecotourism the country or region to maintain the balance of use by preserving the tourist natural resources it has. It is effective in the development of ecotourism to protect the cultural structure of the local people and to provide economic benefits. The support of the local people and their perceptions of ecotourism are important for the development of ecotourism. If the perception of ecotourism of the local people is positive, the way they treat visitors will be positive, which will affect the development of ecotourism activities in the region. The research aims to measure the perception of the local people toward ecotourism by exploring the ecotourism potential of Alanya District, one of the key tourist destinations. Consequently, the first part of the study mentioned the concepts of classification of tourism and tourism. In the second section, the concepts of sustainable tourism, alternative tourism and ecotourism are explained and the development, characteristics, importance, objectives, principles and effects of ecotourism are emphasized. In the third section, the geographical features of Alanya District have been discussed, existing and possible ecotourism activities. In the fourth chapter, the purpose, importance, subject, method, findings and consequences of the investigation are included. The data was evaluated in SPSS 22.0 by surveying 706 people in the study and frequency analysis, average, standard deviation, reliability, T-Test, ANOVA Test has been performed. The analysis concluded that the perceptions of ecotourism of the local people living in the Alanya region were positive. Based on the demographic characteristics of the local people, meaningful relationships were identified between their perceptions of ecotourism.