The effect of tourism on local people's life satisfaction and local identity sense: The Nevşehir case

This study aims to examine the effects of tourism on the life satisfaction and sense of local identity of the local population, using Nevşehir as an example. Nevşehir, one of Turkey's major tourism centers, has been selected as the study area. The study focuses on how tourism's economic, socio-cultural, and environmental impacts shape the local population's life satisfaction and sense of local identity. In this context, the predictive effects of the positive and negative impacts of tourism in economic, socio-cultural, and environmental dimensions on life satisfaction and the dimensions of cooperation, communication, and belonging in local identity were analyzed. A quantitative research method was adopted in the study, and the survey technique was used in the data collection phase. The data obtained within the scope of the study were analyzed using the statistical software program. In addition to descriptive statistics, correlation analysis was also performed to analyze the relationships between variables during the data analysis process. Through this analysis, the relationship levels between the perceived effects of tourism in different dimensions and life satisfaction and local identity were revealed. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis was used to test the predictive power of the variables on each other. According to the findings, it was determined that the positive economic and socio-cultural effects of tourism have a positive impact on the life satisfaction of the local population. It was concluded that the negative economic effects of tourism have a negative impact on the life satisfaction of the local population. It was observed that the positive economic, socio-cultural, and environmental effects of tourism have positive effects on both the cooperation and belonging dimensions of local identity. On the other hand, it was found that negative economic effects have negative effects on local identity. It was concluded that environmental effects do not have a significant impact on life satisfaction. Finally, it was found that the communication and cooperation dimensions of local identity have a significant positive impact on life satisfaction, but the belonging dimension does not have a significant impact on life satisfaction. These findings reveal the multidimensional effects of tourism activities on the life satisfaction and sense of local identity of the local population, thereby providing important contributions to the development of sustainable tourism policies. Keywords: Tourism, Effects of Tourism, Life Satisfaction, Sense of Local Identity, Nevşehir