Tourism growth, national development and regional inequality in Turkey

The introduction of international tourism as an economic growth strategy in Turkey is relatively recent, and Turkey has experienced rapid tourism growth in terms of volume and value. Despite the significant progress in these respects, tourism has contributed little to development. Instead, it has increased the rate of economic growth at the expense of equality among regions and classes. This paper examines the impacts of intensive coastal tourism growth on the development of rural regions in particular and national development in general. It concludes that spatial concentrations of mass tourism investment induced by tourism incentive policies in relatively developed coastal regions have increased disparities among regions and classes.