Local community involvement in rural tourism development: The case of Kastamonu, Turkey

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the potential of local stakeholders in developing a rural tourism product. With this aim, a traditional harvest day event was initiated by the researchers and the event was organized and set up by the local stakeholders. Kastamonu, a rural destination in Turkey with a great potential for but with very limited rural tourism development, was selected for the conduct of this harvest day event. Participant observations and in-depth interviews are used to identify the factors that facilitate involvement of the local community in rural tourism product development. The results are expected to provide insights for the development of a framework relating to the assessment of the potential for sustainable rural tourism development in a given area.

Keywords

• Sustainable tourism
• Rural tourism
• Local stakeholders
• Resident attitudes
• Kastamonu
• Turkey