Introduction

The tourism sector grows rapidly with technological advances in the world and the development levels of the countries (UNWTO, 2016). The rapid growth of tourism leads to the emergence of new and more sustainable tourism types such as rural tourism (Butler, 1999; Sharpley & Vass, 2006; Çeken et.al., 2007; Su, 2013; Pato & Kastenholz, 2017). Rural tourism is an important type of tourism that provides non-agricultural employment opportunities, improves the living conditions of the people living in the cities and villages, and provides diversification of income for the development of rural areas within the framework of sustainability (Sharpley & Vass, 2006; MacDonald & Jolliffe, 2003; Yiannakis & Davies, 2012).

Rural tourism is a type of tourism that takes place in rural areas where tourists live and interact directly with society through their social experiences, which are intertwined and productive with cultural values every day, providing sustainable local development to the rural areas (Díaz-Pompa et al., 2020). Delgado et.al. (2014) and Li et al. (2019) confirm that it creates a route for local development. Rural tourism is to be considered as a specific form of tourism linked to the local development goal. For local Development, revealing the cultural identity of the region and collective organization is one of the important elements (Díaz- Pompa et al., 2020). Leyva et al. (2017), For rural tourism activities to take place; to that end, state it is required to make public policies that allow for better organization of regional tourism.

Rural tourism is based on preserved traditions, lifestyles, and important values of rural areas (MacDonald & Jolliffe, 2003). It can also be said that rural tourism covers all tourism activities in rural areas (Yazgan & Kadanalı, 2012). Activities in rural tourism can be listed as follows (Soykan, 1999; Kiper, 2006; Haldar, 2007):

• Activities for agriculture and animal husbandry in farms or villages (collection of vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. animal feeding, obtaining and evaluating animal products —cheese, yogurt, egg, wool, etc.—, bird watching, hunting, etc.).

• Applications related to local handicrafts (weaving, sewing-embroidery-knitting, ceramic, wood, glassworks, etc.).

• Visiting places such as the museum, historical site, natural monument, national park, zoo, etc.

• Sports activities (horse riding, hunting, fishing, shooting, hiking, cycling, rowing, canoeing-rafting, snow hiking, etc.).

• Hobby activities (taking pictures, painting, etc.).

• Animation shows (village weddings, folk dances, etc.), fairs, festivals, special celebration days, fairgrounds, festivals, entertainment, concerts, etc.

• Various courses (food, sports, music, folk dance, local production techniques, traditional crafts, etc.).

• Scientific research, observation, and research.

• Competitions (sportive, cultural).

Because of the location in the coastal region, having historical and cultural textures and high rural tourism potential, being rich in natural resources and an undiscovered area, the studies of public and non-governmental organizations are focused on the evaluation of the tourism potential of Mordoğan Town (Karaburun District of İzmir Province). In these studies, it has been determined that the employment and income opportunities of the rural population in the region will reduce due to the decreasing share of agriculture, hunting, forestry, and fishing activities in the economy of the research area. The importance of creating new job opportunities and income diversity by developing the rural tourism potential of the region was also emphasized (Anonymous, 2017).

As a priority for the development of rural tourism, it is necessary to encourage the flow of population to rural areas. In addition, the support of the local community in the rural area is needed within the scope of rural tourism. Díaz-Pompa, et al. (2020), argued that the development of new productive activities as the strategic axis of the 2030 national development plan could partially alleviate the economic and social difficulties experienced by the rural areas of the region. Satisfactory quality of life in rural areas can be said to be linked to increased opportunities for new jobs, lower living costs, and finding ways to keep a younger population. In order for tourists to be attracted to an area, it must be stated that there is a presence in that area. This kind of work can be done with the introduction of the region. Rural tourism, the development of community-based tourism can have a positive impact on the preservation of local culture and traditions, which in turn can improve the quality of life of local residents (Rasoolimanesh et al., 2017).

The fact that Mordoğan is a rural tourism area with a rich natural resource and being discovered and evaluated as an important rural tourism destination has been effective in choosing it as a research area. Rural tourism is considered as an important economic activity for the local development of Mordoğan. The rural tourism needs to be handle with a sustainable approach because of the conservation of natural resources and agricultural heritage in the region. In order to implement sustainable rural tourism management by local authorities, it is important to examine the perceptions of local people and farmers on rural tourism. In this study, rural tourism perceptions of the local people and farmers are presented for the first time during the implementation of rural tourism in Mordoğan.

Research Area

Karaburun township is located on the 600km2 Karaburun Peninsula, which forms the northern part of the line between Balikliova and Gerence Bays of the Urla Peninsula, extends to the Aegean Sea, in western Turkey. It is located south of Çeşme and east of Urla district. Karaburun Peninsula, which is surrounded by seas in the East, West, and North, is located between 36 - 38° East longitude and has a surface area of 415 km². The altitude is 50 meters above sea level and Karaburun district center is 2km away from the sea.

Karaburun district is 100 km far from Izmir city center and 110 km far from Adnan Menderes Airport, İzmir. Karaburun has a low population density and the oldest population compared to İzmir. The population of 2016 is 9,575. Karaburun Municipality is one of the oldest municipalities established in 1902, with law No. 6360 converting one town and thirteen villages into neighborhoods and incorporated into municipal borders. The district consists of 16 neighborhoods along with two existing neighborhoods in the center (2015-2019 Strategic Plan of Karaburun Municipality). The geographical location of Izmir province in Turkey is shown in Figure 1, and the geographical location of Karaburun district in Izmir province and the neighborhoods within Karaburun municipal boundary are given in Figure 2. (Anonymous, 2017; Anonymous, 2019). The population of Mordoğan, which is the most populated neighborhood of Karaburun district, selected as a research area, is 3,965 people. Mordoğan is a coastal town 80km far from İzmir and 20km far from Karaburun (Turkish Statistical Institute-Address-Based Population Registration System Results, 2016).

Rural Tourism in the Research Area

Mordoğan town has several advantages such as having calm and silent nature, natural beauties, local agricultural products and dishes, desirable climatic conditions, etc. for rural tourism. When the climate characteristics of Mordoğan town are evaluated in terms of rural tourism; the absence of extreme hot and cold days, very rare snowfall in winter, refreshing winds that reduce the overwhelming effect of heat in the summer and the very rare occurrence of summer rainfall stand out. The humidity in the district does not affect the people negatively, and it enables the realization of various tourism types and related tourism activities. When examining the activities that can be carried out in rural tourism in Mordoğan town, It is emphasized that it is important to organize touristic tours to the town and to identify festivals for agricultural activities, trips to vegetable and fruit gardens, hiking areas and camping areas that can be intertwined with natüre (Akçura al., 2012). It is specific to the resort believed that vegetal and animal products, local dishes, historical structures, and local crafts can be considered as a tourist product within the scope of rural tourism in Mordoğan town. Tourism product is defined as the product they buy and benefit from, accommodation, food and beverage, transportation, entertainment and many other goods and services until the tourists return to their homes for a vacation, sightseeing or resting outside of their permanent residence (Gönenç, 2015). It is believed that rural tourism activities in the region can provide a positive benefit to the development of the region by ensuring the promotion of tourism products in the region (Rasoolimanesh et al., 2017). Below are the products of Mordogan that can be considered as tourist products. These products are organized according to the information obtained from local people and farmers interviewed within the scope of this study.

Vegetable and animal products; palm olive, daffodil, olive oil, grapes, artichokes, hyacinth, juniper fruit, mountain thyme, almond, wine, blessed thistle, Kopanisti cheese (bitter cheese), curd made from Goat's milk, Tulum cheese, basket (head) cheese, etc. (Figure 3).

Regional dishes: Pesemet (Peksimet), Keşkek, churning, Zingata, Mastic Pidesi, Kımız Böreği, Masir Böreği, Chicken Burrito, Ox patties, Körmen patties, Sündürme (Höşmerim), Samsun, Rice pasty, tangle, milk pastry, Mushroom Burrito, Bazina, stuffed pumpkin flower, wood oven bread, flour cookie (Mordoğan and Balikliova), etc. (Figure 4).

Historical sites and buildings: the historical sites such as untouched buildings in the old Mordoğan village, Historical Ayşe Kadın Mosque, Müesser Aktaş Ethnography Museum and Historical House, Narkissos fountain, Greek villages, historical fountains, and windmills(Figure 5 and 6).

According to mythological stories, Narcissus who was the most handsome man in the world lived in Karaburun. It was known that all the daughters and even the fairies fell in love with Narcissus. One of the fairies, who could not find Narcissus’ love, pleaded with God Zeus and demanded that he had been punished. Zeus accepted this request of the fairy, and said, “he who did not love others should love himself”. When Narcissus leaned into the lake to drink water, he saw himself in the water and fell in love with himself. Narcissus fell into that lake and drowned. While they were thinking about burying the handsome man they loved and burying it, a flower began to emerge from the water. The fairies named this flower Narkissos, which they liked very much its color and smell. The daffodil name came from this myth. In psychology, the urge to ‘self-deprecation’ is called narcissism; this expression also comes from this myth (Figure 7). The month of December is the harvest time of daffodils in Mordoğan and Karaburun, which is the homeland of daffodils. The Narcissus Festival is held annually in January. Within the scope of the festival, visitors collect daffodils from the daffodil fields (Figures 8 and 9), (Yörükân, 2000).

Local handicrafts; The handicrafts such as wire breaking, carnation necklace (softened cloves, needle, thread, beads and pendant clips which are held in the water for 8 hours are converted into jewelry), account work, basketry, etc. (Figure 10).

Karaburun district, which had 1461 beds in 2011, has a total of two facilities, thirty six rooms and seventy two beds with business and investment certificates in 2020 (Anonymous, 2021. Izmir Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism). Considering that tourists are those who stay in hotels and hostels in a real sense, the lack of bed capacity indicates that they are also small. Daily trips to the town of Mordogan, which is connected to the district of Karaburun, and the work that the resort is promoting, suggest that it will increase the arrival of tourists. In mordogan, the number of rural tourism-oriented enterprises is small, and local people should be directed to affordable home boarding. In addition, the Night Sea Bass hunting competition in Mordoğan, Mordoğan Sea Meeting Festival (in May) and Mordoğan Street Theatres Festival are among the events held every year (Akçura al., 2012). These events and tourism products make Mordogan appear in the press, suggesting that they attract the attention of domestic/foreign tourists

Methodology

Material

The main material of the study was the data obtained from the survey applied to local people and farmers living in Mordoğan town. In order to determine the perceptions of local people and farmers related to rural tourism, questionnaires were prepared and face-to-face interviews were conducted.

Method of Data Collection

In this study, the households that produce vegetable or animal products in the research area were identified as farmers, while the people living in the research area that not produce any product were identified as local people. The number of surveys to be applied to the local people was calculated using the “proportional sampling” method. The following Equation was used.

Source: (Miran, 2011).

where n is the sample volume, N is the population volume (3230), P is the estimation ratio (0.05 for maximum sample volume), σ2 is the main mass variance. The parameter, in this case, is: Z_ (α/2) can be expressed by the formula σP=r where σP=0.04848 denotes (Miran, 2011).

According to the proportional sampling method equation, the number of surveys to be applied to local people was determined as 103 people with a 90% confidence interval (1.65) and 8% margin of error. In this study, a survey was conducted with a total of 168 people (all farmers —65 farmers— and 103 local people) in the research region registered in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry information system. In order to determine the rural tourism perceptions of local people and farmers, the 61 expressions in the questionnaire were formed by using the questions in the related studies in the literature with the support of the stakeholders in the rural tourism sector (Ayaz et al., 2012; Morgül, 2006; Özdemir & Kervankıran, 2011; Çeken et al., 2012; Sezer et al., 2013; Ukav & Çetinsöz, 2015; Çuhadar & Ünal, 2017).

Methodology used for data analysis

Factor analysis was used for determining how many different factors perceived from 3-point Likert scale expressions related to rural tourism by local people and farmers. Factor analysis is a multivariate statistical method commonly used in psychology and social sciences that combines a large number of interrelated variables and reduces them to a small number of variables, and shares a common variance (Bartholomew et al., 2011; Büyüköztürk, 2002). In this study, principal components analysis was preferred in the realization of factor analysis. This method classifies variables in such a way that the inter-expression relationship in each factor is the most and the inter-factor relationship is a value close to zero (Kurtuluş, 1985). In the implementation of the factor analysis, data obtained from responses of 168 participants, including local people and farmers, to 61 statements generated in the likert scale were used. In order to apply factor analysis to the data, the reliability of the data (Cronbach Alpha (α)) was tested. The Cronbach α coefficient of 61 expressions was calculated as 0.859 and it was concluded that it was highly reliable. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value and Bartlett test were used to evaluate whether the data set was suitable for factor analysis. Kaiser (1974) describes the KMO a value greater than 0.9 as marvelous, a value between 0.8 and 0.9 as meritorious, a value between 0.7 and 0.8 as middling, a value between 0.6 and 0.7 as mediocre, a value between 0.5 and 0.6 as miserable, and a value less than 0.5 as unacceptable (Kaiser, 1974). In this study, KMO value was found as 0.729 and Bartlett test was statistically significant (p <0.05). Some expressions used in the study were excluded from the factor analysis. These situations are anti-image correlation was formed as a unit matrix, complex structure or factor load were less than 0.5, Communalities were less than 0.5, reliability and parallel analysis not being appropriate and there cannot be a single variable in the factor. The extracted statements were removed one by one during the analysis and the analysis was repeated each time. As a result of the factor analysis, 42 propositions were excluded from the analysis and six factors that could be measured with 19 propositions were revealed. These six factors explained 73% of rural tourism perception. These six factors were determined by looking at the general structure of the expressions within the factor, and the expressions in each factor were named according to their general characteristics. In order to determine whether the differences in factor analysis were significant for the local people and farmers, the normal distribution of the factors was first tested by a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and it was observed that they were not normally distributed. The Mann Whitney U test was applied because there were two groups on the rural tourism perception scale that did not show normal distribution.

Results

Socio-demographic characteristics of the local people and farmers

Information related to socio-demographic characteristics of local people and farmers who participated in the research are given in Table 1. The average age of interviewed local people and farmers was 49.90 (the youngest and oldest were 18 and 86 years old, respectively). The minimum, maximum, and average schooling years are 1, 17, and 8.92 years, respectively. The average residence time in the Mordoğan was found to be 3.11 years. 36% of the interviewed local people were male and 54% were female, and 82% of the farmers were male and 18% were female. The average number of family members is 3.03%. The interviewed participants have social security 90.48% while 9.52% have not social security. The average annual income was 39.682 TRY and the maximum income was 500,000 TRY.

Results of the factor analysis on the rural tourism perception of the local people and farmers

Factor analysis was applied to determine the factors affecting the perception of local people and farmers related to rural tourism. As a result of Factor Analysis, Cronbach Alpha value of 19 propositions was calculated as 0.840 and it was found that it explained 73.29% of the total variance. Eigenvalue of these 19 variables was found to be higher than 0.50 for 6 factors. Factors were named as economic, socio-cultural, environmental, interaction, awareness, and local development factors, respectively. These factors were identified as the main factors for determining the perception of local people and farmers related to rural tourism. It was determined that the rural tourism perception of local people and farmers was explained in 18.43% by the economic factor, 15.66% by the socio-cultural factor, 14.38% by the environmental factor, 9.23% by the interaction factor, 7.85% by the awareness factor, and 7.70% by the local development factor. The economic factor was found to be the most important explanatory factor for the perception of rural tourism (Table 2).

The distribution of the perceptions of the local people and farmers about the factors in the rural tourism perception scale was also examined and the eigenvalues and explained variances of the factors obtained from the factor analysis were also evaluated. The first factor, the economic one, explained 67.17% of the total variance with an eigenvalue of 0.876. When the expressions constituting the factor were examined, it can be stated that the expression ‘rural tourism constitutes a market for local products’ had the highest contribution to this factor. The phrase ‘the shopping of tourists positively affects city shopkeepers’ gave the lowest contribution to this factor. It was determined that local people and farmers believe that rural tourism will be beneficial for Mordoğan by creating local markets, extending the tourism season and increasing the income (Table 3).

The 2nd Factor, called as the Socio-Cultural Factor, explained 69.84% of the total variance with an eigenvalue of 0.843. When the variables that make up the factor were analyzed, the highestcontribution was made with the expression “The arrival of local tourists, as well as foreign tourists in our region, make the artisans and the public happy”. The phrase “The promotion of Mordoğan via the internet provides access to more consumers” gave the lowest contribution to this factor (Table 4).

The 3rd Factor, called as the Environmental Factor, explained 67.38% of the total variance with an eigenvalue of 0.835. When the expressions that constitute the environmental factor were examined, the expression ‘rural tourism protects the natural environment and biodiversity’ provided the highest contribution with 0.864, however, the phrase “rural tourism damages agricultural areas” gave the lowest contribution to the factor. According to the environmental factor, local people and farmers believe that rural tourism will have a positive environmental effect, however, it has been observed that local people and farmers are unstable in terms of environmental effects of rural tourism with the phrase ‘Rural tourism damages agricultural areas’. The reason is that the opinion of the interviewed local people and the farmers is that rural tourism activities will be carried out uncontrolled in agricultural lands (Table 5).

The 4th Factor explained 74.01% of the total variance with an eigenvalue of 0.779 and it was named as interaction factor. The phrase “The awareness and knowledge level of the public increases with the interaction of local people with tourists” had the highest contribution to this factor (Table 6).

The 5th factor described 71.33% of the total variation with an eigenvalue of 0.598 and was referred to as the “Awareness Factor”. When the statements that constitute the factor were examined, the statement “Mordogan has sufficient supply capacity to meet rural tourism” provided the highest contribution with 0.861 (Table 7).

The 6th factor, called the Regional Development factor, explains 83.22% of the total variance with an eigenvalue of 0.664. When the variables that make up the factor are examined, the variable “restoration works increase in the region thanks to the development of rural tourism” phrase provides the highest contribution with 0.866 (Table 8).

The averages of 19 statements related to the perception of rural tourism by local people and farmers were between 2.43 and 2.95. The average value of rural tourism perception factors of local people and farmers was determined as 2.78. Taking into account standard deviations and arithmetic averages, it was observed that the local people and farmers who participated in the survey answered that ‘I generally agree with the statements’ regarding the perception of rural tourism. The least standard deviation value was observed for ‘The promotion of Mordoğan via the internet provides access to more consumers.’ statement, whereas the highest standard deviation value was observed for ‘Rural tourism damages agricultural areas’ statement (Table 3). According to the statement which has the highest standard deviation value, it can be stated that local people and farmers perceive that agricultural areas will not be damaged as a result of the activities to be implemented within the scope of rural tourism. The interviewed local people and farmers argued that the activities to be implemented within the scope of rural tourism should be carried out with certain controls in order to prevent damage to agricultural areas.

This research determined that the expressions in the factors that emerged as a result of factor analysis had generally positive effects. In other studies related to rural tourism, it has also been observed that rural tourism is generally perceived positively (Lepp, 2007; Sezer et al., 2013). Thus, it can be concluded that rural tourism will have positive effects if it develops in Mordoğan town. In the study, the factor with the highest eigenvalue (Factor 1), which is one of the factors affecting the rural tourism perceptions of local people and farmers, was determined as “Economic Factor”. Economically, rural tourism is perceived in terms of extending the tourism season, creating a market for local products, diversifying income sources, and creating employment for young people and women. In this case, it was determined that local people and farmers agreed that rural tourism would make a great contribution to Mordoğan town.

The Mann Whitney U test was used to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in the perception of rural tourism by local people and farmers according to the factors of rural tourism perception. According to the results of this test (Table 9), it was found that there was a statistically significant difference between local people and farmers in terms of the perception of economic and socio-cultural factors of rural tourism (p <0.01). It has been determined that farmers perceive rural tourism as a more important activity from an economic and socio-cultural point of view. As a result, it has been determined that farmers engaged in economic activity perceive rural tourism as an important type of tourism to generate income and promote their culture.

Expressions belonging to the Regional development factor and expressions contained in the other five factors can be considered as a local development factor from a general point of view. But it was known that all the expressions created in the study were aimed at local development. According to the applied factor analysis, it was determined that six dimensions explain the perception of rural tourism with a rate of 73%. The fact that The explained variance exceeds 50% over the total variance is an important criterion of factor analysis. As the created factor structure explains less than half of the total variable variance, it would be wrong to mention the ability to represent. Most sources say that this cumulative variance should not fall below 50% (Bartholomew et al., 2011; Büyüköztürk, 2002; Kaiser, 1974; Yaşlıoğlu, 2017). If it had continued to be excluded from the statements, the perception of rural tourism would have been explained by a lower proportion. And with the statements extracted, one-matter factors would arise and the unintended result would be achieved. The ratio obtained in the study indicates the reliability of the analysis results.

Discussion

Analyzing the perceptions of local people living in the rural tourism region will enable the tourism sector to be stronger in the region (Bestard & Nadal, 2007; Huh & Vogt, 2008; Brida et al., 2011; Zhang et al., 2013; Tsephe, & Eyono Obono, 2013). This study is different from the researches that analyze the rural tourism perceptions of the residents (Wang, & Pfister, 2008; Brida et.al, 2011; Sezer et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2013; Tsephe, & Eyono Obono, 2013; Abdollahzadeh, & Sharifzaden, 2014; Muresan et.al., 2016). In the study, apart from the perceptions of the local people, rural tourism perceptions were revealed by interviews with farmers. It is important to get the opinions of farmers as they are direct participants in rural tourism.

This study is in line with the results from studies thatthat imply the economic factor is most important in rural tourism perceptions (Wang & Pfister, 2008; Brida et al., 2011; Egbali et al., 2011; Ramseook-Munhurrun & Naidoo, 2011; Abdollahzadeh & Sharifzaden, 2014; Snieska et al., 2014). However, it differs from the studies that conclude the social-cultural (Wang & Pfister, 2008; Zhang et al., 2013) and environmental factors (Muresan et al., 2016) are the most important factors.

With the development of rural tourism in rural areas, the population increases and, therefore, the local area is also greatly used and can be affected. Muresan et al. (2016) conducted a study in Romania in order to determine rural tourism perceptions of rural residents in the Nord-Vest Region. It was determined that the environmental factor was the most important explanatory factor for the perception of rural tourism among the obtained factors with a rate of 27.74%. The first factor, called as the environmental impacts, included qualities that focused on the conservation of natural resources and the adverse effects of tourism on the environment. In the study, it was stated that rural tourism was perceived as negative in terms of environmental effects (Muresan et al., 2016). It was observed that the people living in Mordoğan town perceive rural tourism in terms of environmental factor more positively than those living in rural areas in the Nord-Vest region of Romania (Table 6). In the study, the expressions contained in the environmental factor were found to have positive effects. Muresan et al. (2016), study, it has been observed that natural resources and the environment will be adversely affected by rural tourism in terms of environmental factor. However, in this study, its effect was undecided.

In the research conducted to determine the factors of rural tourism motivation; it has been determined that rural tourism provides economic, environmental and socio-cultural benefits. In the study, it is also claimed that the socio-cultural aspects of rural tourism in the case of poorly planned rural culture may disrupt the culture, traditional and cultural practices, and adversely affect the agricultural production (Tsephe & Eyono Obono, 2013). In another study conducted by Zhang et al. (2013), it was aimed to reveal the perception towards the development of rural tourism. In the study, their perceptions about the development of rural tourism were evaluated as economic (78.16%), environmental (75.87%), and cultural (85.15%) factors (Zhang et al., 2013). It is stated that the socio-cultural factor is the most explanatory factor. A difference was observed between other studies and the results herein (Tsephe & Eyono Obono, 2013; Zhang et al., 2013). In this study, it has been The reason for this difference may be due to the fact that the local population living in the region is predominantly in the middle age group, and that they do not regard cultural changes negatively or think that their impact will be less. Besides, the reason for the positive perception of socio-cultural may be the thought that the participation of young people and women living in the region in social tourism will increase. In another study, in which perceptions of residents living in Fuengirola (Spain) were measured, three dimensions(negative economic impact, negative social impact, and negative environmental impact) were considered. The study noted that residents’ perception of social impact can be influenced by various components. It has also been noted that the reason for the negative perception of tourism is due to the commitment of residents to their cities (Sánchez-Teba et al., 2019).

In other studies in the literature and in this one, it was observed that the perceptions of the development of rural tourism in terms of economic and environmental perceptions are high (Ramseook-Munhurrun & Naidoo, P., 2011; Brida et al., 2011; Abdollahzadeh & Sharifzaden, 2014; Snieska et.al., 2014; Muresan et al., 2016). In this study, it was observed that economically rural tourism was perceived as an income diversifying element. The findings from the study support previous studies that reveal that the local people perception of rural tourism is economically important (Brida et al., 2011; Egbali et al., 2011; Abdollahzadeh & Sharifzaden, 2014; McGehee & Andereck, 2004).

Rural tourism has a positive or negative impact on the economy, environment, local culture, and local people living in rural areas with its region-specific features and functions. By considering these effects, the sustainability of rural tourism can be ensured (Mansfeld & Jonas, 2006; Brida et al., 2011; Banki & Ismail, 2014). In this study, the economic factor was determined as the most important explanatory. It may be due to the local people and farmers thinking that Mordoğan is advantageous for rural tourism. It is also considered by local people and farmers to be an important income diversifying activity in the rural development of the research area. Within the scope of rural tourism, the expenditure made by local and foreign tourists to meet the needs such as accommodation, eating-drinking, rural activities, transportation, shopping, local handicrafts, and experiencing local foods may be thought to increase the income of those living in rural areas. Bajrami et al. (2020), Serbia has found that most of its residents are tourist-oriented (Bajrami et al., 2020). In this study, it was observed that tourists are viewed positively in order to increase the income of local people and farmers.

Conclusion

Today the demand for rural tourism is increasing thanks to the willingness of people to participate in various activities in rural areas, which they see as an escape from the intensity and stress in urban life, and technological developments, rising income levels, and increasing leisure time. In this study, a factor analysis was performed in order to determine rural tourism perceptions of local people and farmers who live in Mordoğan town. According to the results of the factor analysis, in order to explain the rural tourism perception of the local people and farmers, the factors were examined. These factors were gathered under six categories and the economic factor of rural tourism was found to be the most important explanatory one. It was determined that rural tourism will contribute to Mordoğan town in terms of extending the tourism season, creating a market for local products, diversifying income sources and creating employment for young people and women. According to the results of this study, it was determined that local people and farmers living in Mordoğan town perceived rural tourism positively and local people should be directed to rural tourism activities. Rural tourism, which was perceived as an economic factor by local people and farmers, was thought as an important income diversifying activity in the rural development of the research region. Taking advantage of the voluntary labor of local people and farmers in the region with a participatory approach, rural tourism of policymakers and non-governmental organizations; carrying out studies with an approach that takes into account economic, political, socio-cultural, legal, and environmental factors will activate the rural tourism potential of the region.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Scientific Research Projects Committee of Suleyman Demirel University (SDU BAP 5078-YL1-17) which provided financial support to this study. Also, the authors express their appreciation to farmers and other individuals who assisted this work.

References

Notas

* Research article.

Author notes

^a Corresponding author. E-mail: hasanyilmaz@isparta.edu.tr

Additional information

How to cite this article: Merkez, M. & Yilmaz, H. (2022). Exploring the Rural Tourism Perception of Local People and Farmers: The Case Study of Mordogan in İzmir, Turkey. Cuadernos de Desarrollo Rural, 19. https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.cdr19.ertp

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