Abstract:

To the Northeast of Cyprus Island lies the Karpas Peninsula along the borders of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, in the shape of index finger. The peninsula narrows to eastward to the northeast from the Mesarya Plain and ends at Zafer Cape. Official boundaries were taken into account as well as natural borders during the mapping process of the peninsula and within this framework; western borders and district boundaries of Iskele were overlapped. The Karpaz peninsula has approximately 817km² surface area and is one of the places which have an important agriculture and tourism potential in Northern Cyprus. The peninsula has apt natural and cultural characteristics for various tourism activities. Particularly the recently increasing agro-eco tourism activities have become a significant source of income for the local people. However, unconscious and extreme land use observed in recent years might lead to irreversible problems on the research site if necessary precautions are not taken. For this reason, the study revealed the current tourism structure of the Karpas peninsula and its tourism potential associated with the geographic features and employed SWOT analysis for tourism area and tourism activities planning in the peninsula

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