The factors limiting the local people's use of the ski resort in the city where they live: The case of Erzurum

Winter tourism is one of the tourism types with significant economic returns to destinations around the world. Local people benefit from the benefits of winter tourism. The importance of ski resorts for local people is not limited to economic returns. These destinations are also important for the healthy life of local people as recreation areas. However, considering that the participation of local people in winter sports in Turkey is at the level of 1%, it is difficult to state that they benefit from ski resorts sufficiently. From this point of view, the study aims to determine the constraints of local people's participation in winter sports in Erzurum, one of the most important destinations in Turkey's national and international winter tourism market. In the study where a questionnaire was used as a data collection tool, a sample of 326 local people was reached through convenience sampling technique. Descriptive analyses, exploratory factor analysis, difference analyses and correlational-causal analyses were used in the study. In the exploratory factor analysis applied to the Constraints to Participation in Winter Sports Scale, a six-dimensional structure was obtained. Descriptive analyses of the items and factors showed that the most important constraints for local people were related to cost. The results of multiple linear regression analyses show that Fear and Perception of Danger have a negative effect on satisfaction and propensity to visit for skiing, while Cost and Lack of Attraction have a positive effect on satisfaction and propensity to visit again for skiing and sightseeing. Destination and Choice Constraints, on the other hand, have insignificant effects on satisfaction and positive significant effects on the propensity to revisit for skiing and sightseeing. The findings of the difference analyses generally show that there are significant differences between demographic sample groups such as age, income, gender, etc. in terms of perceptions of constraints.