Tourism development and planning: The Case of Kalkan, Antalya, Turkey

Abstract

This paper uses findings from research undertaken in 2005 by the author and two colleagues to discuss the shift from a comprehensive-holistic and integrated tourism planning to a market-oriented and ad hoc mode. It also discusses the implications of weak local policies in the absence of comprehensive and integrative regional planning frameworks. The original research was on the development and conservation problems experienced in the small tourism town of Kalkan in Turkey after changes to the legal system abolishing certain restrictions on foreign purchases of real estate. The researchers conducted a rapid assessment of the problems and issues and made recommendations for the local development and conservation of historical and natural sites. The report containing recommendations was prepared following a formal request from one of the non-governmental organizations in Kalkan. Thus, the selection of Kalkan was not a matter of considered academic choice. That said, the situation in Kalkan to a certain extent offers a good example of local sensitivity and concern regarding macro-economic policies decided at a national scale. At the time of writing, the report was the first written text reporting on local impacts of market liberalization and deregulation in the real estate sector.