Tourism Promises Expressed during Election Campaigns and the Relevant Actions Taken After the General Elections

Abstract

The present study concerns itself with the promises regarding tourism, expressed by political parties in their party programs or elections manifestos, as well the bills made into laws by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (GNAT). Tourism revenues recorded after the general elections, and the relevant actions taken by political parties have been studied. In this study, literature was reviewed. And then data on the promises of political parties and their post-election activities were collected from the sources kept in the archives of the GNAT located in Ankara. Further, Information on tourism-related developments was accessed through the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Five Year Development Plans. In this context, the data was evaluated and the study was concluded. The study demonstrates that political parties began to attach importance to tourism after the general election of 1983. It has been observed that the parties underlined their promise to further develop tourism. However national and international crises had negative impact on tourism. These crises prevented political parties from reaching their goals. It has been concluded that the primary objective in developing tourism was to make contributions to the country’s economy. It has been established that governments led by the Motherland Party (MP) and later, the Justice and Development Party (JDP) did more to develop tourism than any other government.