ROOTS OF UNSUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AT THE LOCAL-LEVEL - THE CASE OF URGUP IN TURKEY

The main aim of this article is to investigate and explain the roots o f unsustainable tourism development at the local level in a developing country, with special reference to Urgup in the region of Cappadocia, Turkey. It was found that the factors that ushered in unsustainable t ourism development are beyond the control of local people and authorit ies. They are largely related to issues at the national level such as the policy of political economy, prevailing national planning approach es applied to tourism, patron-client relationships between decision-ma kers and related business class alongside the role of international to ur operators in the international tourism system. It concludes that ac hieving sustainable tourism development at the local level in a develo ping country requires hard political choices, a confident decision-mak ing process and the collaboration of international tour operators and donor agencies. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.