GIS- Based Site Suitability Analysis for Some Alternative TourismActivities: The Isparta Case

In this study, ecologically, economically and culturally suitable areas for some alternative tourism activities, whichcan be established in Isparta province, were determined using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools. In order to achieve this goal “Suitability Class Values” method was processed. This method provides GIS based determination of suitable areas for some popular alternative tourism activities and reveals natural and cultural factors determined byoptimal spatial planning in terms of ecological, economic and cultural structure in the form of charts. In accordancewith the method, natural and cultural structure of the study area was specified and a digital database was created by GIS tools. Database was examined according to the “Suitability Class Values” and suitable areas were determined for each activity. Some of the most popular activities such as horse riding, mountain biking, mountaineering, camping / tent camping, skiing and trekking were included in the assessment within the scope of this study and site suitability analysis was conducted separately for each activity. According to the suitability analysis, it was concluded that 2580 km^2 area is suitable for mountain biking, 2207 km^2 area is suitable for horseback riding, 1721 km^2 area is suitable for trekking, 696 km2 area is suitable for camping/tent camping, and 371 km^2 area is suitable for mountaineering in the total of 2725 km^2study area.