Evaluation of nature-based tourism potential in protected and sensitive areas by CRITIC and PROMETHEE-GAIA methods

This study aims to quantitatively evaluate the nature-based tourism (NBT) potential in three Karagöl (“blacklake” in Turkish), Borçka, Şavşat and Murgul, which are located in Artvin Province. Among the mentioned lakes, Şavşat Karagöl has been taken under protection as a national park, and Borçka Karagöl has been brought under protection as a nature protection area. Murgul Karagöl, on the other hand, does not have any protection status. The Criteria Importance Through Inter-criteria Correlation (CRITIC) and Preference Ranking Organisation Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE)-Geometrical Analysis for Interactive Aid (GAIA) techniques were used to evaluate the nature-based tourism potentials of the lakes. In this context, twenty-six criteria obtained from the literature and weighted by the CRITIC technique were evaluated by comparing them with the three available alternatives. In the next stage, the evaluation of the alternatives according to the weighted criteria was provided by the PROMETHEE-GAIA technique. According to the results, the lake with the highest NBT potential in lakes in Artvin Province is Borçka Karagöl Nature Park. The lake with the lowest potential is Murgul Karagöl, which has not yet been discovered, and its infrastructure has not been completed. It is thought that the results may be significant in providing various practical implications for local stakeholders on NBT that can be developed in the region.