Aşırı Turizmin Kent Yaşam Memnuniyetine Etkisi: Eskişehir Odunpazarı Örneği (The Effect of Overtourism on Urban Life Satisfaction: The Case of Eskişehir Odunpazarı)

Abstract

The advances in transportation technologies enlarge the number of turists worldwide every year. This increase in number has both positive and negative sides. The one of these negative aspects are the overtourism. In this research, Eskisehir Odunpazarı, which has become a destination frequently visited by tourists in recent years, has been evaluated in terms of overtourism. This research aims to determine how the perceptions of local people towards overtourism affect their urban life satisfaction. Firstly, the definition of overtourism and its historical development was dealt with conceptually in this research. In the following of this research, the perceptions of the residents in the Eskisehir Odunpazarı concerning overtourism were measured by using the questionnaire method. The population of this research consist of the resident around the Eskişehir Odunpazarı. In this context, face to face questionnaire was filled out to 402 participants. The collected data were analyzed by structural equation modeling. Results indicate that environmental, cultural and social factors affect the urban life satisfaction negatively. On the other hand, the economic factor affect the urban life satisfaction positively. Hence, the suggestions were made to decision-makers.