Socio-Cultural Integration in the Development of Pro-Poor Mountain Tourism: a Lesson From Eastern Turkey

Abstract

As rural areas with mountainous environment offering nature-based tourism and having the potential to reduce inequalities as well as vulnerabilities, this chapter focuses on the role of socio-cultural integration in the development of pro-poor tourism in mountain areas of Turkey. While many studies in the literature have been focused on the role of pro-poor tourism in alleviating poverty and inequalities, this study provides a critical insight into the role of socio-cultural integration of international communities in Turkey with pro-poor tourism. Therefore, a case study of Kyrgyz communities settled in eastern Turkey is given consideration with a qualitative design. The findings of this study showed that their socio-ecological skills and knowledge were one of the most prominent assets that helped them to establish a culturally-experience-driven tourism facility which also facilitated their integration and cultural-communication with both local and wider Turkish and Kurdish communities. This study has finalized with a set of practical and theoretical implications for the literature. © 2025 selection and editorial matter, Michal Apollo, Yana Wengel and Thomas Pogge; individual chapters, the contributors.