TEA TOURISM AND POTENTIAL OF RIZE PROVINCE

Abstract

Tea in the economies of the countries is not only an agricultural product, but it is also a cultural element. The tea, which is an important part of an art and food service with its presentation  rituals, traditions has been accepted in different countries as part of the national identity for both the producing and consuming countries. Tea with these characteristics, can be a product that can be evaluated with in the framework of sustainability and eco-friendly tourism that relies on nature and to be offered to the niche market. Conversely when Turkey’s Tourism Strategy 2023 is examined it is seen that the emphasise on the subjects are about the touristic product diversification and development of rural tourism. In this context, tea tourism can be develop as an important tourism actor complementary rural tourism in the rural areas of Black Sea Region, especially in the tea planting area. Implementation of tea tourism as an innovative tourism types in Turkey as well as the advertise Turkish tea and Turkish tea culture in the world, economically will provide significant added value to the tea cultivation regions. On the other hand, our tangible and intangible cultural heritage will be made sustainable. The Black Sea Region is particularly Rize province where the tea is the most widely cultivating product in Turkey and the region is referred to as “gren gold” by the community. Therefore, this study focuses on the potential of tea tourism in this province and as a result of the evaluation, it is reached that Rize province is a very suitable province for tea tourism.