Investigation of Fragility to Estimate Tourism Pressure

Abstract

ŞENLIER, N and ÖZTÜRK, G., 2011. Investigation of Fragility to Estimate Tourism Pressure. Micallef, A. (ed.), MCRR3-2010 Conference Proceedings, Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 61, pp. 217-220. Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy, ISSN 0749-0208.Although tourism is a tool promoting regional economies, it turned out to have serious adverse environmental effects since it began to consume nonrenewable sources. Areas having more natural diversity attract more people but intensive visits give these areas more harm. It is an undeniable fact that when the tourism phenomenon, having the potential of damaging these natural areas, is driven by principles of sustainability, it can transform to a system which is protective and productive at the same time. Similar to most of the countries, the coastal regions are exposed to tourist pressure more than the other areas in Turkey too. Owing to economic benefits, coastal areas are considered as tourism regions rather than areas to be conserved. Furthermore, this approach is supported through tourism policies and legal regulations. It is also observed that implementers, considering the economical importance of tourism in development of the country, evaluate the principles of protection of the natural sources and environment in the second place. In this context, this paper aims to present an approach which is trying to orient the ‘audit’ phase of the planning process with sustainability principles. The study investigates a model's usability in Turkey which is enhanced by a study done in Solento region of Italy for the purpose of defining the life cycles of tourism areas. In this study, the usability of Ecological Fragility Model is discussed for a possibility of comparison of the ecological risk levels of Turkey's coastal tourism regions.