A REVIEW ON THE ROLE OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN TOURISM ACTIVITIES

The main purpose of any organization is to make profit, regardless of the sector. Although the sector, market structure, management style cause small differences, it is a fact that the businesses operate around their main objectives and make efforts accordingly. However, factors such as changing technological infrastructure, differentiation in consumer desires and demands, new legal regulations in the world have forced enterprises not only profit but also care about the environment. The concept of social responsibility is encountered at this point. Social responsibility signifies liabilities of enterprises to provide an added-value to the environment while making production and earning profit. This added-value to be provided by enterprises also provides an advantage to corporations in the competition environment. In other words, enterprises that fulfil social responsibility activities also provide a competition advantage in market conditions. Based on the aforementioned reasons, this study primarily aims to reveal the role of social responsibility activities in tourism sector. Thus, face-to-face questionnaires were applied to university students. The study was conducted by using t test, ANOVA, WELCH, correlation and regression analyses. As a result of the analyses, a positive and significant relationship was determined between social responsibility consciousness, campaign effect and social preference factors, which constitute the understanding of social responsibility. In the study, it was also concluded that social responsibility campaigns and social responsibility consciousness had a positive and direct effect on tourism preferences of consumers. Evaluating these results from the aspect of environments carrying on business in the sector; it is believed that they will make a positive contribution to tourism activities