Konaklama Kapasitesinin Bir Sonucu Olarak Turizm Yoğunluğu: Türkiye’nin Önde Gelen Turistik Destinasyonları Üzerine Bir Araştırma (Tourism Intensity As a Result of Accommodation Capacity: An Analysis of Turkey’s Leading Tourism Destinations)

Abstract

While the tourism sector has made significant contributions to the country's economies by making rapid progress after the 1980s, the negative effects of overtourism movements towards destinations have also been discussed in the context of natural and social environment. The concentration of tourists in certain destinations has affected the quality of life of local people and overtourism has led to protests against tourism movements among to local people. Different approaches have been developed using variables such as the population of the destination, the area, the number of tourists arriving, the number of overnight stays, bed capacity to measure the tourism density in a destination. In this study, the Defert Index (DE) developed by French geographer Pierre Defert and the tourist density index (TS) were used. The tourism density of Turkey's leading tourism destinations such as Antalya, Istanbul, Mugla, Aydin, Izmir and Nevşehir was calculated between 2009 and 2018 and compared with Turkey's DE and TS averages. In terms of DE, Antalya, Mugla, Aydin and Nevşehir are above the Turkish average, while Izmir and Istanbul are below the Turkish average. In terms of TS, all destinations are calculated above the Turkish average. DE and TS considered as important tourism intensity indicators using while creation of tourism plan in a destination. In this context, recommendations are offered to the extent of results.