Özet:

As the World Tourism Organization also emphasizes, tourism has a negative impact on environmental, socio-cultural and physical structures. The concept of sustainable tourism is also a tourism approach that gives people awareness of these negative effects, protects all kinds of living systems, observes human rights, shows an approach focused on ensuring the aesthetic, biological, ecological and socio-cultural integrity of destinations. In order to ensure sustainable development in tourist destinations, this approach should be considered versatile and many tourist actors play important roles. Travel agencies and guides should also be considered as tourists in this context as tourist actors that are very interacting. Travel agencies demonstrate sustainable behavior based on the essence of volunteering, along with some certification practices, they can provide significant sanctions. There are various examples of certificates developed in the world for travel companies that wish to comply with recognized international standards in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSS) and Sustainable Tourism. These examples include the Travelife Certification program, which has an area of application and is accepted by important organizations such as the World Tourism Organization. The program’s target groups in education are sustainability coordinators, employees, accommodation companies, tourist guides, consumers and students. This study will evaluate the criteria and roles of “rehber and sustainable tours” of travel agents involved in tourism practices through the Travelife certificate sample. For this purpose, the Guide and Sustainable Tour Module through the Travelife Certification has been evaluated from a comprehensive perspective.

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