ECO - FRIENDLY PRACTICES IN THE LODGING INDUSTRY: THE CASE OF AYVALIK CUNDA ORTUNÇ HOTEL, TURKEY

The changing profoundly affect the tourism sector as in all areas. In this context, the new trends in tourism sector have been observed on the eve of 21st century. The depletion of natural resources of tourism, increase of population and the environmental problems bring about a number of changes in tourist profile and their request. So, one of the new changes in world tourism is the increase in demand for environmentally sensitive tourism. In the face of the current environmental problems, tourism sector has encountered the new trends. One of these new trends in tourism is eco hotels. It can be said that eco hotels are of the two main contributions. The first one is to meet the expectations of a conscious group of tourists who are sensitive to the environment. The second one is to serve to the sustainable tourism by using the natural resources more efficiently. Thus, eco hotels become increasingly an important force in allowing the countries in which they do business to be come more competitive in the long term. In this study, the importance of eco-hotels are discussed. And as a sample, Ortunç Hotel which is established and run in Cunda Island of Ayvalik/Balikesir was selected. In Ortunç Hotel - an eco-hotel -, the current practises were deeply reviewed.