Tourism and climate change: The case of Istanbul

Climate change is one of the most important global problems of our age. Destinations that want to maintain their tourism potential need to adapt to climate change. One of the most important adaptation strategies is to create social awareness. The aim of this study is to determine the perceptions of the people residing in Istanbul regarding climate change and tourism and to examine these perceptions with various variables. The questionnaire form developed within the scope of this purpose was applied by face-to-face interviews with 703 people residing in Istanbul in September, October, November and December in 2019. The data obtained within the scope of the research were analyzed through IBM SPSS 21.0 for Windows statistical package program. The survey data were subjected to Reliability Analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis, Frequency Analysis, Normality tests, Independent Sample T-Test, One-Way Anova, Levene test, Sidak test, Tamhane's T2 test, Correlation Analysis and Cluster Analysis. As a result of this research; It has been determined that the residents of Istanbul are aware of the changes in the environment and climate, but they lack awareness and knowledge about the impact of tourism. Also in this research, residents of İstanbul perceptions of climate change and tourism differed statistically significant according to gender, age, education level, occupational group, place of residence, income level, knowledge level on tourism, working status in tourism, the opinion that climate change negatively affects to tourism and frequency of going on holiday (p<0.05), but it did not statistically significant differ according to marital status and duration of residence (p>0.05) has been determined. On the other hand, it was determined that the dimensions forming the perception of the residents of İstanbul towards climate change and tourism are interrelated (p=0.000) and residents of İstanbul are divided into different clusters according to the perception of towards climate change and tourism (p<0.05) . This study is thought that this research will guide the tourism industry in terms of realizing new ideas and activities for the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, and it will be helpful in developing new strategies and policies.