Responsible Travel in Türkiye

Türkiye is a country that hosts millions of guests every year with its unique historic fabric and amazing natural riches. Türkiye offers unforgettable experiences for its guests, from the clear waters of the Mediterranean, fairy chimneys of Cappadocia, historical peninsula of Istanbul to the antique remains of Ephesus. However, a responsible travel approach is required to protect this rich cultural heritage and fragile natural habitats.

“Responsible Travel” is based on minimizing the damage to the environment and increasing quality of life for the local people and refers to a more attentive and thoughtful planning for their travels. Responsible travel in Türkiye includes adopting a sensitive approach for the nature and culture of the visited places, protecting cultural heritage, and using natural resources in a sustainable manner. Acting in this manner is critical to pass on the natural and cultural riches of the country to next generations.

Responsible travel, i.e., sustainable tourism, is another way of enabling the next generations to explore the rich cultural heritage and natural beauties of Türkiye. So, sustainable tourism, what do ecotourism and responsible tourism mean? Let us have a look together!

The Brief History of Ecotourism

According to the UN Tourism, ecotourism refers to “forms of tourism which have the following characteristics: All nature-based forms of tourism in which the main motivation of the tourists is the observation and appreciation of nature as well as the traditional cultures prevailing in natural areas.”

The Global Ecotourism Network (GEN) defines ecotourism as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and creates knowledge and understanding through interpretation and education of all involved (visitors, staff, and the visited)".

Ecotourism was first conceptualized in the beginning of 1980s as a type of travel which enables minimizing the damage to the environment while travelers visit exotic places. It gained momentum in the 1990s with the awareness of environmental protection and acceptance of limited resources of the planet. Especially with the rising social awareness of climate change and the limited resources of our planet, this has become a more popular travel style.

Before the rise of ecotourism knowledge, some developing countries have been conducting activities that significantly damaged natural habitats, such as poaching, illegal tree cutting in the forests, burning forests to create fields, etc. With the education and awareness works conducted by many international organizations directed at the local communities for the conservation of natural sites, primary income sources of the people started to shift towards tourism, and this helped countries to become popular ecotourism destinations.

Today, ecotourism continues to grow as more people travel with the awareness of responsibility. The United Nations declared 2002 as the ecotourism year and this type of tourism has become even more popular in the following ten years. After that date, especially from 2009 to 2013, it has become a sector worth $263 billion with a growth rate of 65%.

For more information about ecotourism’s history and development, you can check out this article.

And today, we have been frequently hearing the term ecotourism with the increasing concerns about climate crisis. So, what are the advantages of ecotourism?

Advantages of Ecotourism

1) Ecotourism enables long-term income thanks to factors such as employment of local people, accommodation in local businesses, purchasing of local products, etc. Responsible travel aims at a measurable reduction of poverty among local communities.

2) Ecotourism provides long-term socio-cultural benefits to local people. Respect for traditions, customs and values are all positively affected.

3) Ecotourism protects wildlife, biological diversity and the environment while eliminating waste and garbage.

The Negative Impacts of Irresponsible Travel on the Destinations

An example of the decline of tourism destinations which did not include responsible action and sustainable planning would be Koh Phi Phi Island in Thailand. Maya Beach, which attracts 35 million tourists every year as the most popular region in Thailand, has been closed off by the government due to the damage on the nature, especially on underwater ecology. Overcrowdedness, pollution and waste have resulted in the damage to the world-famous bay and resulted in the complete shutdown of the beach in order to enable the ecosystem to renew itself.

The negative impacts of mass tourism can be listed as follows:

1) Destruction of the environment: Overcrowdedness, pollution and excessive consumption of natural resources cause destruction of the environment. High number of tourists creates a demand for more restaurants and hotels to be built; growing population causes pollution of oceans, damages coral reefs as well as underwater ecosystem; this results in excessive waste and consumption of natural resources.

2) Damage to natural sites and fragile ecosystems and disturbance of wildlife: When natural sites are disturbed to open place for resorts, hotels and touristic sites, wildlife living in these sites are directly impacted. Flora and fauna in these sites become damaged. In addition, activities such as animal tourism, programs of swimming with the dolphins, riding elephants and safari damages the environment in an irreversible way.

3) Inflated costs: High number of tourists leads to increase in land, food, water, accommodation, and transportation prices. Even if you are from the local community, you have to pay more for everything in the touristic regions.

4) Commoditization of local culture and traditions: In many countries of the world, tourists pay to visit “local tribes” and “ethnic groups” to experience their way of life. As a result, cultures and traditions are exploited until they completely lose their definitions.

Some Ways to Realize Responsible Travel

1) Saving energy, electricity, and water: Limit your energy consumption as much as you can such as keeping showers short during your travels, limiting your air conditioner usage, turning off lights when you leave your room.

2) Shopping from local businesses and experiencing local cuisine: Supermarkets cause an increase in carbon emissions and plastic packaging by bringing food from all over the world. Shopping from local markets as much as possible and preferring local foods would enable you to take a good step for the environment, and it would be more affordable as well as supporting the local economy.

3) Respect for the culture and people of the visited places: The places we visit introduce us to distinct cultures, lifestyles, and mindsets. These differences are indications of the richness and diversity of our world. However, mutual respect and tolerance is essential in order to live together with this richness. Respecting the culture and people of the visited places is not only a matter of courtesy, but it also promotes conservation and support for cultural richness.

4) Accommodation options with an environment-friendly approach: Preferring local guest houses, family boarding houses supports local people. In addition, environment-friendly hotels and B&Bs should be preferred with renewable energy usage, recycling programs or sustainability certificate.

5) Responsible tour companies: If you are traveling with a tour group, you should do your homework well and choose a company that has sustainable travel policies.
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6) Avoiding animal tourism: You should prefer shelters and national parks that promise “zero-touch” approach which rehabilitate animals for the ones who want to see wildlife. One can travel without touching, riding, or watching the performance of a wild animal.

7) Going beyond the ordinary and thinking outside the box: Go beyond the ordinary and explore places that would benefit from tourism rather than contributing to the destruction of the destinations which are already exposed to excessive tourism. In this way, you can explore different routes and contribute to ecotourism.

The Importance of Natural and Cultural Heritage in Türkiye

Our country has a lucky geography; it has a unique history located at the conjunction of civilizations, surrounded by seas on three sides. It hosts many cultural monuments and historical heritage from the neolithic period from 12,000 years to Hittites, from the first settlement in the world to Antique Greeks, from Roman remains to Byzantium churches, from Seljuks to Ottoman palaces.

Breathtaking and unparalleled natural sites of Türkiye have ecologic significance and they need to be conserved, from crater lakes to high mountains, from ski centers to coastlines, the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia to white travertine terraces of Pamukkale, from virgin beaches to plateaus offering unique biological diversity.

We can list sustainable tourism initiatives in Türkiye as follows:

• Accommodation places that use renewable energy sources,
• Cultural conservation projects financed by tourism income,
• Wildlife conservation works supported by ecotourism,
• Ecotourism activities focused on conservation in areas such as national parks, etc.,
• Activities with a connection of agriculture and tourism aiming to increase the welfare of local communities,
• Accommodation facilities with sustainable tourism certificate

The Role of Responsible Travel in the Conservation of Heritage in Türkiye

The awareness of responsible travel opens the traveler to the world and promotes the understanding of the environment.

Responsible travel refers to being conscious of social, economic, and environmental terms while traveling. People who know how travel can affect a destination would be more sensitive in terms of environment and local cultures, therefore they would have a global sensitivity.

People who prefer a responsible travel style can play a significant role in protecting the cultural and natural heritage of Türkiye. Such as protecting wildlife, biological diversity, environment, respecting traditions, cultural values, and heritage, contributing to cultural tolerance, and enabling long-term economic and social benefits...

So, is there a green destination you can visit in Türkiye? Yes, there is! Let us tell you about Küçükköy, Ayvalık and the SENTRUM project!

A Green Destination: Küçükköy

Küçükköy, a natural and cultural attraction in Ayvalık, Balıkesir, is now a green tourism destination with its small-town structure, energy efficient traditional stone architecture and unique nature. Enerjisa Enerji, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Sabancı University joined forces to launch the SENTRUM Green Destination Model Project. SENTRUM aims at popularizing sustainable tourism practices in other locations in Türkiye by developing green destination model works starting from Küçükköy.

For further details on SENTRUM check out our website!​

The SENTRUM project directly contributes to 10 of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Project not only expands tourism practices that protect the environment, but also supports local employment, encourage women's empowerment, and contributes to the education of children in the region. For further details on Küçükköy check out this report. By visiting Küçükköy, you can support sustainable tourism in Türkiye and contribute to a sustainable future during your next vacation!