An analysis of Kastamonu tourism development from the perspective of national and local media (2010–2022)

The role of the media in raising public awareness is an undeniable reality. In this context, news content stands out as one of the most effective elements of awareness-raising activities carried out through the media. It is seen that news in media outlets also play a decisive role in a different area such as tourism promotion. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the tourism potential and development process of the province by examining the media reflections of the last 12 years regarding Kastamonu province; to evaluate the types of tourism that are prominent in the region and to reveal how Kastamonu is represented in the media. The data of the research is based on the document analysis conducted in the Ankara National Library archive. In this context, three national and three local newspapers published between 2010 and 2022 were systematically examined. The news data obtained were categorized according to their content and tabulated, and frequency and percentage distributions were calculated. Then, the news content was evaluated using the framing analysis method and the results of these analyses were tabulated thematically. In the final stage, news visuals belonging to the relevant period were examined using the semiotic analysis method and in this way, the development of Kastamonu in the field of tourism was interpreted through visual representation. The research findings reveal that Kastamonu has more than one tourism potential. It was determined that areas such as nature tourism, gastronomy tourism, and mountain and winter tourism in particular came to the fore. It was concluded that Kastamonu province, where different types of nature-based tourism coexist, showed a significant development in terms of tourism in the 12-year period examined.