Özet:

Ecotourism is a type of tourism that preserves natural-cultural values, enables the local people to use them in a way that can generate economic income without permanent damages, and also has a positive contribution to socio-cultural relations. Ecotourism is of great importance for the country and the region. It also has the potential to spread tourism dynamism both over 12 months and across the country. The development of ecotourism in a region depends on the perception of the local people living in that region. The higher the ecotourism perception level of the local people, the more it will contribute to the development of ecotourism in the region. In our study, one of the provinces in Giresun, Turkey has significant potential for ecotourism aimed to measure the perceptions of local people in ecotourism. In this context, 700 people were surveyed, and 574 surveys were deemed appropriate for statistical analysis. The data obtained were evaluated in the SPSS 22.0 program and frequency analysis, standard deviation and mean, reliability analysis, T-test for independent samples, one-way ANOVA (one-way variance) test and Tukey (Multiple comparison) test were performed. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the perceptions of the local people living in Giresun regarding the economic, socio-cultural and environmental sub-dimensions of ecotourism changed positively according to their demographic characteristics. In general, it has been observed that the perceptions of the local people living in Giresun province towards the sub-dimensions of ecotourism are positive and they support the development of ecotourism in the region.

Anahtar Kelimeler: