Does Tourism Reduce Regional Inequality? Spatial Appearance of Tourism Development in Turkey

Interregional development disparities have emerged as one of the most controversial issues in contemporary discourse. Across the globe, disparities in various facets, including social, cultural, tourism, and economic dimensions, are strikingly evident. Turkey, a nation renowned for its importance in the global tourism landscape, is no exception to this phenomenon. The spatial distribution of tourism development in Turkey reveals an inequality. This study aims to examine the variations in interregional tourism development by establishing a comprehensive tourism development index for Turkish cities and subsequently categorizing them based on their distinctive levels of development. To achieve this, a dataset consisting of 18 variables from various public institutions in the year 2017 was compiled. With this data set, Principal Component Analysis was employed to compute the tourism development index for each city, and the Hierarchical Cluster Method was used to categorize cities into distinct development categories. In conclusion, the research underscores the influence of both policy interventions, planning, and the intrinsic characteristics of cities in shaping the spatial disparities in tourism development within Turkey. The implementation of neoliberal policies has notably concentrated capital, investments, and the tourism market in the Mediterranean and Aegean coastal regions, exacerbating spatial inequality in tourism. The implications of this study hold the potential to guide policymakers in narrowing the gaps in interregional tourism development within Turkey, thereby fostering a more equitable and sustainable future.