Abstract:

The Covid-19 epidemic, which has left deep traces in the social and economic life of the peoples all around the world, has adversely affected many sectors. Epidemics, economic and political crises, etc. problems can affect the industry negatively. In many countries of the world, tourism is an important sector in the strategic field and its contribution to the economy is substantial. In this context, the corona virus (Covid-19), which was detected in Wuhan, China in December 2019, was announced by the World Health Organization as a global epidemic in March 2020 and negatively affected the tourism sector. The aim of this study is to exhibit how Covid-19 affected the tourism sector. In the study, the literature review was conducted, touched on the changing understanding of tourism, and the impact of the epidemic on the tourism sector in Turkey was discussed at the local plane using the semi-instructed interview technique. The form was sent to 30 metropolitan municipalities, 81 provincial municipalities and district municipalities in Turkey. A total of 47 municipalities, including 18 metropolitan municipalities and 29 provincial and district municipalities, were reached. Accordingly, given place to the results of the field research conducted with 47 municipalities at different scales. The findings demonstrate that the epidemic negatively affects local tourism and creates new opportunities by transforming the understanding of tourism. In line with this result, ecological trips, gastronomy trips, etc., which highlight their regional characteristics, are offered to municipalities. It can be recommended that they turn to new tourism activities.

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