Abstract:

In the development of rural areas whose economy is based on agriculture and animal husbandry, rural tourism activities play an essential role in diversifying rural areas’ economic activities and transforming the social structure, with its contribution to employment, income-generating effect, and bringing people from different cultures together. Similarly, cooperatives, an organizational structure where local people come together to meet their own needs in the sense of solidarity, also fulfill a vital function in the development of rural areas. In this direction, the study’s primary purpose is to determine whether cooperatives can play an active role in rural tourism development in areas where rural tourism activities occur. Therefore, the study adopted a qualitative analysis method to obtain in-depth information from the participants. In the analysis process of the data, descriptive analysis was used. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 participants consisting of the Women Entrepreneurs Cooperative and local people, established in Kuyucak Village of Keçiborlu District of Isparta Province, which constitute the research sample, and a semi-structured interview form was used in the interviews. Finally, the results in line with the findings were interpreted and some suggestions for future studies were presented

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