Evaluation of recreation activities in nature parks and tourism potential

Abstract

The desire of people to escape from cities to rural areas for various reasons increased the importance of ecotourism in general, nature parks and recreational activities. In this study, it is aimed to determine the recreational activities in nature parks and to shed light on the tourism potential of nature parks. In this context, 33 nature parks located in the Eastern Marmara Region focused in the study. The focus is on the eastern Marmara region, as it is a region with the potential to attract more tourists due to its close location to large cities with high populations. The distribution of the nature parks by the cities examined and specifically, which recreational activities could be carried out in each nature park determined and conducted a content analysis with the help of secondary data. The intensity of recreational activities mapped according to the cities, and the richness of recreational activities in nature parks compared within itself. Findings obtained from the research shows that among the cities in the Eastern Marmara Region, the most nature parks are located in Bolu. The nature park with the most activities is Harmankaya Canyon in Bilecik with 15 different activities. The most common activities in the nature parks are listed as; hiking, photography, picnic, cycling.