EVALUATION OF HERITAGE CHALLENGES IN ŞIRINCE: A 'BEST TOURISM VILLAGE' THROUGH THE LENS OF THE 2022 ICOMOS CHARTER FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM

The recognition of Şirince as a Best Tourism Village (BTV) by UN Tourism in 2023 highlights its cultural and natural significance. The BTV initiative aligns with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, encompassing nine areas of economic, social, and environmental sustainability. However, the absence of explicit reference to the 2022 ICOMOS International Charter for Cultural Heritage Tourism in the BTV application guides raises important questions about the integration of rural conservation within sustainable tourism policies.Guided by the 2022 ICOMOS Charter, this study examines the broader challenges of balancing tourism-driven economic benefits with the conservation of cultural and natural heritage in heritage-rich rural destinations and evaluates Şirince’s alignment with BTV criteria. While the BTV initiative acknowledges villages exemplifying sustainable tourism, the classified nature of its evaluation data prevents direct analysis. To address this limitation, the research adopts a consumer-centered approach, analyzing 166 visitor reviews on TripAdvisor from 2020 to 2024.The researchers derived and categorized challenges inspired by the Charter into causal (tourism dependency, overtourism, commodification) and resulting (e.g., physical degradation, loss of authenticity, environmental degradation, social degradation, and accessibility issues) challenges to better understand tourism-related pressures. The findings reveal significant dissatisfaction with commodification, which erodes the village’s authenticity and spirit of place, and overcrowding, which contributes to the degradation of tangible and intangible heritage. Social degradation also emerges as a critical issue, with visitors frequently citing fraudulent practices by vendors, an influx of non-local workers, and the erosion of community cohesion. Accessibility challenges, including inadequate infrastructure for elderly and disabled visitors, further hinder Şirince’s ability to provide an inclusive tourism experience.The study highlights discrepancies between the BTV criteria and the principles of responsible cultural tourism advocated by ICOMOS. While the BTV initiative promotes sustainable rural tourism, its limited emphasis on cultural heritage conservation leaves gaps in addressing the complex challenges faced by heritage-rich rural destinations like Şirince.By analyzing visitor-driven data, this research sheds light on the intricate interplay between tourism development and rural conservation and emphasizes the need for responsible tourism. Future research could explore the integration of international frameworks like BTV and ICOMOS or investigate the potential of responsible tourism in Şirince and similar rural destinations.