The impact of policy-making on tourism development: The case of Uzungöl

In 2007, the Justice and Development Party developed a tourism strategy as a part of its "Turkey's 2023 Vision" to be applied all throughout the country. The promising strategy is grounded on sustainable development, requiring environment-friendly and region-based policy-making. However, in the small district of Trabzon, Uzungöl, it failed. Over the past 30 years, Uzungöl acquired four "special statuses" due to its environmental qualifications and historical significance, consequently becoming a popular choice for a variety of state led plans and projects. However, despite these statuses, due to increasing tourism demand, today, the region is far from what was projected. The Justice and Development Party's sustainable tourism strategy was not effectively carried out in Uzungöl because state regulations met neither the region's needs nor the locals' expectations, ultimately resulting in the locals' damaging the environment through excessive use of resources in order to meet the region's tourism demand. Focusing on this dilemma between the projected and attained results of tourism policy-making in Uzungöl, this thesis aims to analyze the shortcomings of such policy-making in the region, and understand the how and why the state not being able to apply its objectives, through the examination of state documents and interviews conducted with locals, state bureaucrats, and civil society members.