The role of tourism in regional development: The case of Erzurum province

The main purpose of many regional development policies implemented is to eliminate socio-economic differences between regions. In addition to these policies, the tourism, has been in a separate position from other sectors in terms of accelerating and completing economic development in recent years. In this context, the tourism sector is among the important sectors for the development of regions that have not achieved sufficient development in agriculture and industry, but have high tourism potential. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of the tourism sector on the regional economies in general and the role of these effects on regional development, and in particular, with the help of sectoral data, the current tourism potential of Erzurum province is revealed and the effect of this potential on the development of the province is examined theoretically. As a result of the study, it has been determined that the tourism sector alone is not sufficient, but it has serious positive effects on the regional economy.