Türkiye, for the purpose of utilizing the supply resources of tourism including natural, cultural and social aspects by considering the balance of protection-utilization and developing and globally promoting these aspects without jeopardizing any of them, has been improving national sustainable tourism standards in cooperation with its domestic and international stakeholders. Türkiye Sustainable Tourism lndustry Criteria (TR-I) have been built to ensure sustainable growth of the Turkish tourism industry and to develop a common understanding about Turkish tourism with the participation of all tourism stakeholders. TR-I was developed to be implemented by accommodation facilities and tour operators. in this respect, TR-I includes both criteria that comply with the social and cultural structure of Türkiye and globally recognized sustainable tourism criteria. TR-I was established under four main themes: sustainable management; socio-economic impacts; cultural impacts and environmental impacts. TR-ı standard includes mandatory principles and practices of the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism to be adopted by the Turkish tourism industry within the framework of various criteria, and compliance with the TR-I standard will only be achieved on the basis of the criteria specified in this document.

TR-I standard was introduced with the cooperation of all industries and international institutions under the guidance of the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Türkiye Tourism, Promotion and Development Agency (TGA). TGA is dedicated to delivering Türkiye as a brand and a popular destination in both domestic and international tourism markets; discover, develop and promote tangible and intangible natural, cultural, biological and manmade heritage assets; boost the tourism capacity of Türkiye, increase the rate of tourism investments in the national economy and raise the quality of service with short, medium and long-term communication and marketing activities. Following the innovative and sustainable tourism strategies and policies of the Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Agency carries out all promotion, marketing and communication activities to serve the country’s tourism goals, and promote and market current tourism opportunities across the globe.

The process of developing the TR-I was designed to adhere to the criteria of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), the international body providing guidance for the development of sustainability standards for tourism. in this context, TR-I have adopted all GSTC criteria for Industry as they have been introduced by GSTC. TR-I will be revised every 3-5 years to comply with the updating peri od of the GSTC criteria. More details on revision plans and signing up to allow anyone interested to comment on future revisions are available at the website tga.gov.tr. This website also includes information about the criteria development process and its historical progress.

The criteria indicate what should be done, but not how to do it or whether the goal has been achieved. What is required and how to comply with these criteria is defined by performance indicators, associated educational materials and access to tools for implementation, all of which complement the criteria and are further specified in the Handbook prepared by TGA and made available to the industry.

More information about these criteria and guidance is available on the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism and TGA websites. Unless otherwise justified by valid reasons that it is irrelevant for a specific condition, the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism requires the entire Turkish tourism industry to adhere to all of these criteria. The exceptional conditions and other rules are identified by the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism and transparently communicated with industrial stakeholders and the public.