Determination of sustainable areas for ecotourism using GIS-based AHP

The study aims to select locations suitable for ecotourism, which has become animportant concept for developing countries because of its significance in biodiversityconservation, the growing awareness of sustainability, and the increasing demand fornature-based experiences. This study determined suitable ecotourism locations usingthe Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) within the Geographic Information Systems (GIS)framework in an area with a typical Mediterranean climate. All data used for analysiswere open resources. Thirteen criteria were considered to determine suitable areas,while restricted areas were identified based on a literature review and expert opinions.Findings determine that 65.01% of the total areas are unsuitable for ecotourism, 20.28%are moderately suitable, and 14.71% are highly suitable. Areas near forested lands andopen water bodies were found to be the most suitable regions, while the distribution ofthe most favourable places for ecotourism varied by district across the province. Thestudy provides a fundamental framework as a benchmark for ecotourism planning insimilar regions and offers valuable information for future sustainable tourism develop-ment initiatives.