Attitudes of Mayors Toward Tourism In Rural Areas: The Case Of The Turkish Rural Municipalities

It is essential that attitudes of stakeholders towards tourism be examined in today's extreme competition among the destinations. It is further essential to carefully analyze the stakeholders of destinations, which are going to be developed in rural areas and which plan to have a share in tourism gains. The objective of this study is to present the relationship between the attitudes of mayors towards tourism and tourism activities of rural municipalities during the participation of the stakeholders in rural areas which are selected as areas for alternative tourism development. To this end, two-phase research process is followed where, in the first phase, secondary sources are thoroughly examined and where, in the second phase, the relationship between the attitudes of mayors towards tourism and the activities of municipalities in rural areas is analyzed by the means of questionnaires conducted to the mayors. In the end of the research process, an intermediate relationship is identified between the attitudes of mayors towards tourism and the activities of municipalities towards tourism. In the context of research findings, certain suggestions are accordingly presented which might improve the mayors on tourism patterns and which might increase the level of participation of rural area municipalities in tourism.