Sustainable Tourism Policies and Overtourism Risk in Destination Management: The Case of Alanya

Problems caused by overtourism are currently a major concern in the most visited destinations. Awareness of overtourism and the amount of news about reactions to overtourism has been increasing around the world recently. Overtourism has been frequently discussed by journalists in media, researchers in their research and politicians in their search for solutions. It also causes some negative impacts and reactions against tourism in destinations. Sustainable tourism policies should be developed to minimize the negative impacts and prevent potential reactions before they occur. The research aims to identify these necessary sustainable tourism policies for destinations at risk of, or struggling with, overtourism. The research was carried out in four stages, demonstrating the overtourism risk in Alanya, determining the negative impacts of tourism in the study area, examining international reports, and generating a list of proactive sustainable tourism practices and policies for destinations by document analysis. Long-term planning, involving destination stakeholders in the planning process, and the continuous monitoring of the tourism impacts on the destination are among the main results. Sustainable tourism policies and practices are enriched with concrete examples. The research results are expected to be a guide for decision-makers in the destinations at risk of, or struggling with, overtourism.