AN INVESTIGATION OF NATURAL AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPE VALUES WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF ECOTOURISM; CASE OF BILECIK, TURKEY

Abstract

In this research, the aim is to make the ecotourism assessment of Bilecik province which can be approached within the context of tourism with its cultural, natural and historical qualities. In line with this objective, it is aimed to identifying the natural and cultural landscape values of the research area, ensuring the sustainability of these characteristics, specifying whether or not it is suitable for ecotourism, setting forth the approaches by visitors towards ecotourism while ensuring it to serve as a model for ecotourism studies in the future within this area. The respondents were asked to address questions in order to show their preferences within the scope of 5-point likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Don’t know, 4 = Agree, and 5 = Strongly agree) and in the scope of ecotourism, the cultural and natural values of Bilecik province were measured using 9 items. Survey-analysis and questionnaire processes of this study were carried out in summer 2018 to spring 2019. The gathered data were subjected to an analysis by utilization of normal statistical methods within SPSS version: A set of ecotourism opportunities items were defined using the factor analysis, in order for designating the main and underlying factors, followed by a group mean comparison (t-test) in order to identify between the demographic information and availability factors.