A classification and analysis of cities based on tourism supply resources in Turkey

Abstract

Tourism is one of the major export items of Turkey, contributing significantly to its gross national products. Over the past two decades, tourism has become a very important industry to the economy of a large number of both coastal and inland Turkish cities. The key to continued attraction ofvisitors to Turkey in significant numbers requires a careful coordination of marketing and planning of tourism supply resources. Thus, it is the objective of this study to define, analyze, and classify cities based on their supply indicators. This study employs a regional analytical method developed by Smith. Using a factor analysis of supply indicators, the study attempts to identify the extent of tourism development in each of the cities in Turkey. The resultant factor scores of supply resources are then used as independent variables in two subsequent analyses: (1) to cluster cities in order to delineate the level of development as suggested by supply indicators, and (2) to establish a relationship between supply and demand measures. The latter is achieved by regressing select demand measures on the delineated factor groupings of supply indicators. Then, appropriate planning, marketing, and resource allocation implications are provided for select city destinations