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Climate Change Responsive Tourism Planning:

and thus make Türkiye lose its leading position in tourism sector (Amelung
et al, 2007; Ciscar et al, 2014; Grillakis et al, 2016). Moreover, as the climate
gets milder and more suitable for tourism in Northern regions, thus increasing
the level of comfort, it is expected that the tourism demand will concentrate
around domestic tourism (Hamilton et al., 2005; Scott et al., 2016).
Tourism is one of the most important sources of income for Türkiye with its
contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019 by 4.6% (TÜRSAB, 2022)
Thanks to the investments in tourism starting from the 1980s, which became
more common with Tourism Promotion Act, Türkiye hosted over 51 million
tourists as of 2019 and had an income of $34.5 billion (Ministry of Culture and
Tourism, 2019; UNWTO, 2020). Due to the Pandemic, global tourism mobility
almost came to a halt between 2020 and 2021, which also affected the tourism
economy of Türkiye negatively. There is growing awareness of climate change
and its potential effects at a national and local level in Türkiye, which is located
in a vulnerable geography. It is essential to reflect this awareness on tourism
sector as well for the future of the sector (Aygün and Baycan, 2020).
For this reason, this study aims to take the estimated effects of climate
change into account and identify the potential opportunities and threats that
tourism will face. It also aims to make suggestions that will provide a basis for
future tourism planning. As part of this goal, first of all, a detailed literature
review was made and projections on climate change in Türkiye and its potential
effects were presented. Next, as part of the studies focusing on the effects of
climate change in Türkiye on climate change, connections were made between
climate change and tourism and the findings were discussed through SWOT
analysis. Finally, taking these discussions into account, recommendations
were made for strategies towards forming a climate-sensitive roadmap to
improve tourism.

The Relationship between Climate Change and Tourism

People prefer tourism activities to get away from their daily routines, and
to meet their different needs and desires. In Tourism demand literature,
where, when and how long people tend to meet these needs and desires is
an important topic of study. The leading studies in this field explain the tourist
choices of tourism destinations with reference to “push” and “pull” factors.
(Dann, 1977). Push factors are related to individual desires and motivations
whereas pull factors mean the impressive features of tourist attractions
(Heitmann, 2011). Climate is referred to both as a push and a pull factor in
tourism literature (Kozak, 2002; Uysal et al., 2008). To illustrate, people living in
places with cold and wet climates tend to prefer sunny and mild climates. In

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