Impact of Crises on the Tourism Industry: Evidence from Turkey

Abstract

Tourism, as a leading source of income for many countries, is one of the world's fastest-growing industries. Tourism demand is strongly influenced by the economic situation of the consumer, as well as by the political, environmental, security and health conditions provided by the host country. As tourism is not one of the first steps in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, it is not part of the mandatory spending group. Holiday plans are among the first to be altered or cancelled if there is a threat to the tourist's ‘biological and physiological needs’ or ‘security needs’. Thus, the tourism sector is highly susceptible to crises. Turkey tourism movement has faced several major national and global shocks of different origins recently. This study aims to examine the impact of crucial crises and of the current COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry in terms of their characteristics, social conflicts, political situation and responses. To achieve this objective, the development of the tourism sector in Turkey has been analyzed taking into account the conditions of the world economies. Comparisons were made between overall figures for incoming tourists, tourism revenues and hotel occupancy rates in Turkey for the time periods before, during and after these crises, considering certain other effects. The figures are related to significant incidents, economic, political, health, social or environmental crises that have occurred at the national or global level.