Abstract
In this paper we examined the factors of residents’ support for sustainable tourism development in Mardin city-Turkey, in the context of gender as social structure. We found that people are sensitive about positive and negative effects of tourism, in association with society attachment and involvement, with bigger role for the later. And the perceptions of positive effects reduce their evaluation of the negative effects. Also we found that women are less active in transforming their attitude toward the effects of tourism to behavior toward sustainable tourism. But they are ready, more than men, to support sustainable tourism and ignore its negative effects, in spite of their higher sensitivity for the negative effects. So we recommend raising the role of local community and giving women more chances in the different levels of tourism activities.
Highlights
Economic activities use the natural and human resources to make profit, or satisfy human needs
As our case study is less developed and sustainable development represents an opportunity for developing the area, we suggest, using self-evaluation items to measure attachment, and in line with TSR and TPB, the following hypotheses: H4: A positive relationship exists between community attachment CA and perceived positive impacts PB of sustainable tourism development
As there are no clear cut results in this area we suggest the following hypotheses: H7: A positive relationship exists between community involvement CI and perceived positive impacts PB of sustainable tourism development
Summary
Economic activities use the natural and human resources to make profit, or satisfy human needs. Tourism is an economic activity and raises the same problem (Amir et al, 2015). At the same time, compared to other sectors, tourism has a high potentiality in providing (and distributing) income and creating job opportunities for women and marginalized groups, so it may be a positive factor in sustainable development (Liu et al, 2012; Zolfani et al, 2015). The concept of sustainable tourism appeared partially as a reaction to the negative effects of tourism activity and as a way to reduce those effects; it later became an appropriate approach for tourism development (Bramwell and Lane, 1993; Bramwell and Lane, 2012; Zolfani et al, 2015). The World Tourism Organization defined sustainable tourism as: “Sustainable tourism development meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. It is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems”. (WTO, 2001, cited in Liu, 2003, P.460)
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