Sustainable tourism in southwestern Turkey? Planning perspectives for the Kemer region (Antalya province)

Abstract

After the "Tourism Promotion Law" was passed in 1982 the effects of the tourism development in the coastal areas of Turkey are especially due to the increasing pressure from foreign mass tourism. It is the consequences of a fast, mainly uncontrolled and often reckless tourism development exemplary for the Turkish coast in the surrounding area of Kemer. This tourism development has taken place to the detriment of the existing natural, cultural and social potential of this coastal area. In the long term this kind of development endangers the very existence of tourism in the region itself, because tourism has become very important in the intervening years. Both as an economical factor and a feature of an attractive recreation area tourism particularly depends on an intact landscape and socio-cultural balance of the population. The appropriate alternative to the previous development has to be a sustainable, environmentally and socially compatible tourism concept, which takes into account the specific features of the surrounding area of Kemer to a large extent and also protects its attraction as a recreation area.