Tourism in Protected Areas: Observations from Kuşcenneti National Park

The establishment of protected areas has the purpose of ensuring the conservation and preservation of the environment. However, due to the constraints to self-financing, many protected areas are turning to tourism as a source of revenue. Tourism is thus regarded as the key to get additional financial resources for the management of protected areas and to find alternative economic resources for local people living within or around those areas. Evidence from Kuşcenneti National Park in Turkey shows how the tourism development process was conducted and how gateway communities were involved in, so as to strengthen links between tourism activity and the benefits for local economy, cultural and natural heritage.