Local people's perception of the impact of climate change on tourism: The case of Adana province

Climate change is one of the most significant environmental problems faced by the world today. This issue, as in many other sectors, causes negative impacts in the tourism sector, seriously affecting the continuity and predictability of tourism activities. Climatic variability has become a decisive factor in tourists' destination choices, holiday durations, and decisions regarding accommodation enterprises. Therefore, in order to make the tourism sector resilient to climate change and ensure its sustainability, the implementation of effective strategies and practices is required. In this process, raising social awareness and encouraging cooperation among different stakeholders are considered important advantages. The aim of this study is to determine the perceptions of the local residents of Adana Central District regarding climate change and tourism, and to examine whether these perceptions differ according to various variables. For this purpose, data were collected in 2024 through face-to-face and online surveys applied to 574 residents of the district. The data obtained were analyzed using the SPSS 19.0 program. The assumption of normality was tested with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, while group differences were examined using Student's t-test, Levene's test, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Tukey's test was applied in cases of significant differences. The results revealed that participants' perceptions of climate change and tourism were at a high level.