The role of Antalya Port in regional development as a logistic organization: A research on foreign trade companies operating in TR61 Region

On the basis of regional development, it is an effort to prepare plans and policies that envisage a balanced share of the geographical regions in the country from economic growth. The development process starts from the local and finds meaning on a global scale. Ports are important logistical links at the point of eliminating economic imbalances and ensuring regional development. Factors such as the efficiency of the activities of the ports, the volume of business they create and employment show that they can be effective in the development of the region. TR61 Region according to NUTS Level 2 classification covering the provinces of Isparta, Antalya, Burdur; It has the potential to become a logistics center with factors such as its resources, necessary infrastructure, cheap labor compared to the country in general, and the fact that a large part of labor force employment is in the service sector. Understanding the importance of ports by national, regional and local actors is important in the context of countries' development. In this study, prepared with this motivation, a research was conducted on the foreign trade companies operating in the region and using the Antalya Port, and the effects of Antalya Port on regional development were examined. The research was carried out with the Descriptive Analysis Method, which is one of the qualitative research designs. In line with the method, semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the perceptions of companies and port authorities on the impact of Antalya Port on regional development as a logistics organization. It is aimed to reach the experiences of different participants by using maximum diversity sampling. In this context, the meetings were held with the officials working in the administrative structure of Port Akdeniz and the foreign trade companies operating in the TR61 Region (Antalya-Isparta-Burdur) and receiving service from Antalya Port. The obtained data were analyzed using a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis program. The emerging themes and sub-themes have brought many new research topics to the agenda for researchers. In addition, in order to strengthen the research method, SWOT analysis of Antalya Port was made as a result of customer perceptions obtained during the interviews. As a result of the research, it was emphasized that the presence of Antalya Port in the region was effective in import and export movements and had a facilitating effect on trade, and solutions were offered on how to increase the level of development in the TR61 Region through Antalya Port. Keywords: Port, Regional Development, TR61 Region, Logistics