Comparison of Tourism Policies With Statistics: The Example of Türkiye And Mediterranean Countries

Abstract

The tourism industry, which started to recover rapidly after the Covid 19 pandemic in late 2019, has regained growth momentum and revitalized and strengthened countries economically. In short, competition in tourism destinations continues at its old pace again. It is expected that you need to have sustainable and robust tourism policies in order to take an advantageous position in this competitive environment and to be able to compete with competitors. Therefore, this study compares the destinations of France, Spain, Italy and Turkey, which have been in first place in both visitor numbers and tourism revenues for many years and are located on the Mediterranean line. The study's main purpose is to evaluate employment, sustainability and destination management policies in the tourism industry across countries and to develop recommendations for the relevant authorities through the tourism policies of these destinations, which are important competitors for Turkey. It has been determined that Spain, Italy and France allocate significant budgets for tourism policies and give more importance to digital applications. Although Turkey's sustainable tourism policies are particularly interesting, it is determined that Turkey needs more development than its competitors, especially in employment and destination management policies. Developing tourism policies based on qualitative rather than quantitative criteria will bring Turkey closer to its competitors in the future and give it more competitiveness.