Research Information System
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE "City and Human", İzmir, Turkey, 28 - 29 November 2024, pp.319, (Summary Text)
In 2021, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) launched the “Best Tourism Village” initiative, allowing member states to apply with the aim of making tourism a driver of rural development. According to UNWTO, villages awarded the title of “Best Tourism Village” will benefit from international recognition as exemplary rural tourism destinations. The selection process is based on nine evaluation areas, aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2023, out of approximately 260 applications, 54 villages worldwide were selected as Best Tourism Villages, including Şirince, a village in the Selçuk District of İzmir. This study aims to examine the compliance of Best Tourism Village Şirince with the nine evaluation criteria determined by the UNWTO, according to empirical scientific studies conducted over the past decade. To achieve the aim, relevant studies were searched in WoS, Scopus, TR-Dizin, and YÖK Tez databases using the search string “Şirince” in the title and “tourism” in the abstract. The studies were then filtered to include only those with “tourism” in the keywords, eliminating those out of scope. As a result, 1 article from WoS, 2 articles from TR-Dizin, and 4 theses (3 master’s and 1 doctorate) from YÖK Tez were identified, with the WoS article being a published version of one of the master’s theses. Therefore, a total of 6 studies were selected for evaluation. The findings indicate that the negative impacts of overtourism and commodification were not sufficiently considered during the selection of Şirince as a Best Tourism Village. Consequently, the title may not fully represent an exemplary model of sustainable tourism.
Keywords: Sustainable Tourism, Cultural Tourism, UNWTO, Best Tourism Village, Şirince