Özet:

Tourism as a whole of social, cultural, and economic activities is becoming increasingly important as a key catalyst of the economy. Tourism is the sector that uses environmental resources the most compared to the other economic sectors. Therefore, creating awareness of the natural and cultural environment in tourism management is a prerequisite for sustainable tourism. In other words, sustainability in tourism requires creating a new approach to tourism, which attaches more importance to the environment. In this context, sustainable tourism, considered as a commitment to the nature, adopts the principle of meeting the needs of today’s tourists and host regions while caring for and enhancing the opportunities of the future. The focus of this article is the indicators that constitute the basis for the tools for measuring sustainable tourism and indicators of sustainable tourism and their importance are discussed in the study. Indicators of sustainable tourism are aimed at direct utilization by administrators of specific tourism destinations or target audiences related to these locations . The indicators can also work as a tool of wider observation at the regional or national levels. The indicators focus on essential points that administrators need to know to reduce the risk of taking decisions that can cause damage to the natural and cultural environments that the tourism industry is dependent upon. This article emphasizes that the definition and utilization of indicators as a guiding tool for actors such as managers and planners, who assume responsibilities in tourism development in destinations or regions where tourism activities are intense or desired to be activated, in the measurability of environmental, economic, and social factors as well as the right and carefully chosen, locally and destination-relevant, monitored (qualitatively or quantitatively), and measurable indicators are one of the main tools in ensuring an efficient sustainable tourism management.

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