SPORTS AS A 'GREEN PRODUCT' IN DESTINATION MARKETING: CASE OF WINDSURFINGIN CESME, TURKEY

Öz

Within a wide array of academic and practical studies existing in the literature on sustainable tourism development, there is still a need for further research assessing the sustainability of different tourism forms and their components. It is the argument of this research that, in the fiercely competitive tourism sector, the implementation and management of sustainable tourism development plans would offer potential benefits to sports tourism destinations alongside a ‘greener’ competitive advantage in marketing spheres. In this context, this research attempts to answer: whether marketing sports attractions in destinations would help stakeholders recognize the need for sustainable tourism development, and; whether sustainable sports tourism development could become a catalyst in promoting sustainable development of destinations. The specific attention is paid into tourism’s impacts on natural environment, on which the sports type selected for investigation – i.e. windsurfing – highly depends for its existence. Since the analysis of a green product within a destination milieu requires thorough understanding of all stakeholders’ roles within a tourism network, interviewing sector stakeholders was selected as the main research methodology for primary data collection in addition to literature review on the topics of sustainable tourism development and green marketing.

 

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Green marketing, sports tourism, Cesme, Turkey, windsurfing, sustainable tourism

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Öz

Sürdürülebilir turizm gelişimi hakkında akademik ve uygulamaya yönelik yazında yer alan çok sayıdaki çalışma, farklı turizm türleri ve ürünlerinin sürdürülebilirliğinin değerlendirilebilmesi için daha fazla sayıda çalışma yapılması gerektiğini göstermektedir. Turizm sektöründeki yoğun rekabet göz önüne alındığında, bu çalışma, sürdürülebilir turizm gelişimi planlarının uygulanmasının ve yönetiminin, pazarlama alanında spor turizmi destinasyonlarına, ‘daha yeşil’ olmanın getirdiği rekabet avantajının yanısıra farklı potansiyel faydalar da sağlayacağını savunmaktadır. Bu kapsamda, bu çalışma: destinasyonlarda spor aktivitelerinin pazarlanması, paydaşların, sürdürülebilir turizmin gelişimine olan ihtiyacı farketmelerine yardımcı olur mu, ve; sürdürülebilir spor turizminin gelişmesi, destinasyonların sürdürülebilir gelişiminde bir katalizör olabilir mi sorularına cevap aramayı amaçlamaktadır. Turizmin varlığı ve geleceği, büyük oranda doğal çevreye bağlı olduğundan, turizmin doğa üzerindeki etkileri ve özellikle araştırma kapsamında incelenen ve doğa sporu ürünü olan rüzgar sörfünün doğal çevre üzerindeki etkisi üzerinde önemle durulmaktadır. Destinasyon çevresinde yer alan yeşil ürünlerin incelenmesi, turizm iletişim ağı içerisinde yer alan tüm paydaş rollerinin kapsamlı bir şekilde anlaşılması ile mümkün olabileceğinden, bu çalışmada sektör paydaşları ile yapılan mülakatlar, birincil veri toplama yöntemi olarak belirlenmiştir

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Yeşil pazarlama, spor turizmi, Çeşme, Türkiye, rüzgar sörfü, sürdürülebilir turizm

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