Beyond Sustainability: Developing Regenerative Tourism Through a Multi-Dimensional Maturity Index for Turkish Destination

Abstract

Aim: Regenerative tourism represents a paradigmatic shift beyond sustainable tourism, aiming to create net-positive impacts that restore and revitalise destination ecosystems and communities rather than merely conserving them. Despite growing academic interest, significant gaps remain in conceptual clarity, operationalisation, and context-specific measurement frameworks, particularly for emerging destinations. This study addresses these gaps by developing a comprehensive Regenerative Tourism Maturity Index (RTMI) specifically designed for Turkish destinations, advancing both theoretical understanding and practical application in the field. Method: The study employed a systematic literature review combined with expert consultation and multi-dimensional analytical synthesis to construct the index framework. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was utilised for criterion weighting and validation, ensuring methodological rigour. The proposed four-dimensional framework integrates ecological regeneration (30%), social regeneration (25%), cultural regeneration (25%), and economic regeneration (20%), offering context-specific adaptations that account for Turkey's exceptional biodiversity richness, deep cultural heritage layers, and diverse community structures. Five pilot destinations—Kaş-Kekova, Cappadocia, Datça-Bozburun, Macahel, and Ephesus-Bergama—were selected for empirical validation based on representative ecological and cultural diversity. Findings: The RTMI provides a robust strategic assessment tool for policymakers, destination management organisations, and tourism stakeholders. The weighting distribution reflects the primacy of ecological restoration in regenerative paradigms whilst maintaining balanced attention to socio-cultural and economic dimensions. Context-specific indicators were developed for each dimension, accommodating Turkey's unique geographical position bridging Europe and Asia, its UNESCO World Heritage sites, and its community-based tourism traditions. The phased implementation roadmap comprises baseline assessment, stakeholder engagement, indicator calibration, and continuous monitoring mechanisms. Discussion: This index contributes to regenerative tourism scholarship by advancing operational frameworks applicable to comparable Mediterranean and culturally rich destinations. The study challenges existing sustainability metrics that focus on damage limitation, proposing instead a maturity model that measures net-positive contribution. Limitations include the need for longitudinal empirical testing and potential adaptation requirements for different geographical contexts. Future research should examine stakeholder perceptions of regenerative practices and develop sector-specific sub-indices for accommodation and tour operations.

Keywords

• Regenerative tourism
• sustainable tourism
• destination management
• maturity index
• measurement framework

Sürdürülebilirliğin Ötesinde: Türk Destinasyonları İçin Çok Boyutlu Bir Olgunluk İndeksi Aracılığıyla Yenileyici (Rejeneratif) Turizm

Abstract

Amaç: Yenileyici turizm, sürdürülebilir turizmin ötesinde paradigmatik bir değişimi temsil ederek, sadece koruma yapmak yerine destinasyon ekosistemlerini ve topluluklarını restore eden ve canlandıran net-pozitif etkiler yaratmayı amaçlamaktadır. Artan akademik ilgiye rağmen, kavramsal netlik, operasyonelleştirme ve bağlamsal ölçüm çerçeveleri konusunda önemli boşluklar bulunmaktadır, özellikle gelişmekte olan destinasyonlar için. Bu çalışma, Türk destinasyonlarına özgü olarak tasarlanmış kapsamlı bir Yenileyici Turizm Olgunluk İndeksi (YTÖİ) geliştirerek bu boşlukları doldurmayı ve alandaki hem teorik anlayışı hem de pratik uygulamayı ilerletmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Yöntem: Çalışmada, indeks çerçevesini oluşturmak için sistematik literatür taraması uzman görüşü ve çok boyutlu analitik sentezle birleştirilmiştir. Kriter ağırlıklandırma ve doğrulama için Analitik Hiyerarşi Süreci (AHS) kullanılarak metodolojik titizlik sağlanmıştır. Önerilen dört boyutlu çerçeve, ekolojik yenilemeyi (%30), sosyal yenilemeyi (%25), kültürel yenilemeyi (%25) ve ekonomik yenilemeyi (%20) bütünleştirerek; Türkiye'nin olağanüstü biyoçeşitlilik zenginliğini, derin kültürel miras katmanlarını ve çeşitli topluluk yapılarını dikkate alan bağlamsal uyarlamalar sunmaktadır. Temsili ekolojik ve kültürel çeşitlilik temelinde, Kaş-Kekova, Kapadokya, Datça-Bozburun, Macahel ve Efes-Bergama olmak üzere beş pilot destinasyon ampirik doğrulama için seçilmiştir. Bulgular: YTÖİ, politika yapıcılar, destinasyon yönetim örgütleri ve turizm paydaşları için sağlam bir stratejik değerlendirme aracı sunmaktadır. Ağırlıklandırma dağılımı, yenileyici paradigmalarda ekolojik restorasyonun önceliğini yansıtırken, sosyo-kültürel ve ekonomik boyutlara dengeli dikkat göstermektedir. Her boyut için bağlamsal göstergeler geliştirilmiş; bu göstergeler Türkiye'nin Avrupa ve Asya'yı birleştiren benzersiz coğrafi konumunu, UNESCO Dünya Mirası alanlarını ve topluluk tabanlı turizm geleneklerini kapsamaktadır. Aşamalı uygulama yol haritası; temel çizgi değerlendirmesi, paydaş katılımı, gösterge kalibrasyonu ve sürekli izleme mekanizmalarından oluşmaktadır. Tartışma: Bu indeks, karşılaştırılabilir Akdeniz ve kültürel olarak zengin destinasyonlara uygulanabilir operasyonel çerçeveler ilerleterek yenileyici turizm bilgisine katkı sağlamaktadır. Çalışma, hasar sınırlamaya odaklanan mevcut sürdürülebilirlik metriklerini sorgulamakta; bunun yerine net-pozitif katkıyı ölçen bir olgunluk modeli önermektedir. Sınırlılıklar arasında uzunlamasına ampirik test ihtiyacı ve farklı coğrafi bağlamlar için potansiyel uyarlama gereksinimleri bulunmaktadır. Gelecek araştırmalar, yenileyici uygulamaların paydaş algılarını incelemeli ve konaklama ile tur operasyonları için sektöre özgü alt indeksler geliştirmelidir.

Keywords

• Rejeneratif (yenileyici) turizm
• sürdürülebilir turizm
• destinasyon yönetimi
• olgunluk indeksi
• ölçüm çerçevesi

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