Abstract
The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Tourism Destinations: Sarıgerme Environmental Education Association (SARÇED) Sample
Today, it is observed that the public and private sector as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are involved in the tourism development process in destinations. NGOs play an important role especially in tourism destinations in terms of protecting and sustaining natural, economic and cultural values. In addition, it is seen that NGOs, as non-profit enterprises, provide versatile and numerous services that provide social benefits for the public good. In this context, determining the contributions of NGOs to tourism destinations by SARÇED constitutes the main purpose of the study. In the second part, an application study was carried out in order to determine the contributions of SARÇED to Ortaca-Sarıgerme destination in order to set an example for the role of NGOs in tourism destinations. In line with this purpose, a qualitative research was conducted with the association's managers using a semi-structured interview form. The obtained data was tried to be presented through the descriptive analysis method. As a result of the research, it was concluded that SARÇED primarily contributed to the development of tourism and also supported the local people, surrounding institutions and organizations in the destination of Sarigerme.
Keywords
Tourism, Sarigerme, Non- governmental Organization (NGO), Sarıgerme Çevre Eğitim Derneği (SARÇED)