Evaluation of The Aegean Region within The Scope of Environmental Indicators of Sustainable Tourism

Aziz BOSTAN; Galip Afşin RAVANOĞLU; Gizem Evrim BİLGİ

doi:10.63556/tisej.2026.1546

Authors

Aziz BOSTAN Aydın Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8187-3871
Galip Afşin RAVANOĞLU Karamanoglu Mehmetbey University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5485-4384
Gizem Evrim BİLGİ İstanbul Esenyurt Üniversitesi https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8541-0719

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63556/tisej.2026.1546

Keywords:

Tourism, Sustainability, Aegean Region, Sustainable Tourism, Environment

Abstract

Sustainable tourism is a form of development that prioritizes the protection of the environment and the preservation of cultural heritage and traditional values of local communities. It seeks to promote destinations’ progress in economic, social, and environmental terms. The World Tourism Organization has identified 140 indicators, spanning economic, social, and environmental aspects, to gauge sustainable tourism practices.
This study aims to analyze and evaluate the provinces in the Aegean Region concerning these sustainable tourism indicators. Sustainable tourism plays a pivotal role in ensuring the longevity of tourism activities. When sustainable planning is not adopted, the quality of a tourism area will decrease and thus its preference by tourists will decrease. For this reason, the desired benefit from tourism will not be obtained.
By examining sustainable tourism indicators, the goal is to assess the current situation in the Aegean Region, identify areas needing improvement, and facilitate efforts toward enhancement. Within the scope of environmental indicators, solid waste collection, air pollutant sulfur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM10) values, use of natural resources (organic agriculture production), ecosystem sensitivity, erosion control studies and afforestation areas were determined in the Aegean Region. With the determination of these indicators, the negative effects on the environment will be revealed and the measures to be taken for the realization of environmental sustainability will be determined. Tourism and the environment are in close relationship with each other. Investigating the effects of tourism on the environment is important for achieving success in sustainable tourism.

Author Biographies

Aziz BOSTAN, Aydın Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi

Makro ekonomi, Turizm Ekonomisi ve sürdürülebilirlik üzerine çalışmaları bulunmaktadır.

Gizem Evrim BİLGİ, İstanbul Esenyurt Üniversitesi

Turizm doktorası mezunu, sağlık turizmi alanında çalışmaları bulunmaktadır.

Turist rehberliği programında Dr. Öğr. Görevlisi olarak çalışmaktadır.

References

Alhaddi, H. (2015). Triple bottom line and sustainability: A literature review. Business and Management Studies, 1(2), 6–10.

Bianchi, R. V. (2004). Tourism restructuring and the politics of sustainability: A critical view from the European periphery (The Canary Islands). Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 12(6), 495–529.

Bilgiçli, İ., & Ertürk, S. (2022). Sürdürülebilir turizm kapsamında Karasu’da ekoturizmin çevre etkilerinin incelenmesi. Sosyal, Beşeri ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi, 5(8), 1110–1129.

Bozkurt, A. (2015). Tourism, environment and sustainability. In C. Avcıkurt et al. (Eds.), Sustainable tourism: An environmental approach. St. Kliment Ohridski University Press.

Bozkurt, I. (2022). Calculation of carrying capacities in demand management from a sustainable tourism perspective and analysis within the scope of marketing: Cappadocia example (PhD thesis). Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University.

Calik, I. (2014). Analysis of the Black Sea region within the scope of sustainable tourism indicators (Doctoral dissertation, Sakarya University, Turkey).

Calik, I., & Zurnaci, J. (2019). Evaluation of home boarding in the context of sustainable tourism indicators: Yusufeli case. Journal of Tourism & Gastronomy Studies.

Calik, I., Duzgun, E., Odemis, M., & Duzgun, A. (2021). Plateau tourism in Gümüşhane (from a sustainable tourism perspective).

Chen, Z., Yu, G., & Wang, Q. (2020). Effects of climate and forest age on the ecosystem carbon exchange of afforestation. Journal of Forestry Research, 31(2), 365–374.

Choi, H. C., & Sirakaya, E. (2006). Sustainability indicators for managing community tourism. Tourism Management, 27(6), 1274–1289.

Cukurluoglu, S., & Bacanli, U. (2018). Trend analysis of the sulfur dioxide and particulate matter concentrations in the Aegean region, Turkey. International Journal of Engineering Science, 7, 64–74.

Dimoska, T., & Petrevska, B. (2012). Indicators for sustainable tourism development in Macedonia. In Conference Proceedings (pp. 389–400). Goce Delcev University, Faculty of Economics.

Ebabu, K., Tsunekawa, A., Haregeweyn, N., Tsubo, M., Adgo, E., Fenta, A. A., ... & Poesen, J. (2022). Global analysis of cover management and support practice factors that control soil erosion and conservation. International Soil and Water Conservation Research, 10(2), 161–176.

Fernández, J. I., Cárdenas-García, P. J., & Espinosa-Pulido, J. A. (2019). Does environmental sustainability contribute to tourism growth? An analysis at the country level. Journal of Cleaner Production, 213, 309–319.

Gurer, N., & Eke, F. (2012). A method proposal in examining the relationship between tourism and economic development in mountainous areas with sustainability indicators: The example of Erzurum, Erzincan, Bayburt regions. Gazi University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture Journal, 27(1), 125–133.

Guzel, O., Nacak, E., Bilgi, E., & Kalin, V. (2020). Sustainable tourism and the roles of tour guides in destinations: A qualitative case study in Turkey. Journal of Economy, Culture and Society.

Ilal, N. C. (2021). Sürdürülebilir turizmin geleceği için hepimiz sorumlu muyuz? In Arikan & Saltik (Eds.), Tourism, society, culture. Nobel Publishing.

Imam, A., Mohammed, B., Wilson, D. C., & Cheeseman, C. R. (2008). Solid waste management in Abuja, Nigeria. Waste Management, 28(2), 468–472.

Kanat, G. (2010). Municipal solid-waste management in Istanbul. Waste Management, 30(8–9), 1737–1745.

Kiral, B. (2020). Document analysis as a qualitative data analysis method. Siirt University Journal of Institute of Social Sciences, 8(15), 170–189.

Kok, F. (2018). Collection and evaluation of data for the method to prevent or reduce air pollution in cities. National Journal of Environmental Sciences Research, 1(3), 145–157.

Kuhlman, T., & Farrington, J. (2010). What is sustainability? Sustainability, 2(11), 3436–3448.

Lee, T. H., & Hsieh, H. P. (2016). Indicators of sustainable tourism: A case study from Taiwan’s wetland. Ecological Indicators, 67, 779–787.

Misra, V., & Pandey, S. D. (2005). Hazardous waste, impact on health and environment for development of better waste management strategies in future in India. Environment International, 31(3), 417–431.

Nanda, S., & Berruti, F. (2021). Municipal solid waste management and landfilling technologies: A review. Environmental Chemistry Letters, 19(2), 1433–1456.

Moldan, B., Janoušková, S., & Hák, T. (2012). How to understand and measure environmental sustainability: Indicators and targets. Ecological Indicators, 17, 4–13.

Pugliese, P. (2001). Organic farming and sustainable rural development: A multifaceted and promising convergence. Sociologia Ruralis, 41(1), 112–130.

Rasoolimanesh, S. M., Ramakrishna, S., Hall, C. M., Esfandiar, K., & Seyfi, S. (2020). A systematic scoping review of sustainable tourism indicators in relation to the sustainable development goals. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1–21.

Roberts, S., & Tribe, J. (2008). Sustainability indicators for small tourism enterprises–An exploratory perspective. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 16(5), 575–594.

Simsek, U., Karaoglu, M., Tohumcu, F., Gokmen, F., & Erdel, E. (2013). Effects of afforestation on soil organic matter and aggregate stability in aridicule zone.

Tamer, E. T., & Yangil, F. M. (2021). Sustainability indicators in tourism: An application on hotel business managers. Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 9(3), 943–955.

UNWTO. (2004). Indicators of sustainable development for tourism destination: A guidebook.

Vučetić, A. Š. (2018). Importance of environmental indicators of sustainable development in the transitional selective tourism destination. International Journal of Tourism Research, 20(3), 317–325.

World Health Organization. (2021). WHO global air quality guidelines: Particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide. World Health Organization.

Wu, Y., Li, R., Cui, L., Meng, Y., Cheng, H., & Fu, H. (2020). The high-resolution estimation of sulfur dioxide (SO2) concentration, health effect and monetary costs in Beijing. Chemosphere, 241, 125031.

Internet Resources

https://cem.csb.gov.tr/2019-i-103641 Access Date: 20.05.2023.

https://cevreselgostergeler.csb.gov.tr/hava-kalitesi-sinir-degerlerin-asim-sayilari-i-85777#_edn1 Access Date: 13.10.2024.

https://www.sanayi.gov.tr/merkez-birimi/b94224510b7b/sege Access Date: 20.05.2023.

https://www.tarimorman.gov.tr/DKMP/Menu/27/Milli-Parklar Access Date: 20.05.2023.

https://www.tarimorman.gov.tr/Konular/Bitkisel-Uretim/Organik-Tarim/Istatistikler Access Date: 20.05.2023.

https://www.tuik.gov.tr/ Date of Access: 20.05.2023.