Overtourism Perception in the Islands: the Case of Bozcaada and Gökçeada

Abstract

In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the effects of over tourism on the two touristic islands in Çanakkale, Bozcaada and Gökçeada, from the eyes of the local people. Overtourism emphasizes that an excessive number of tourists in a particular destination can have negative effects on society. In this study, the phenomenon of overtourism has been discussed on the basis of social carrying capacity and Doxey's irridex-tolarate model. In line with this purpose, the perception of the local people about the effects of tourism, problems caused by tourists and their attitudes towards tourists were evaluated with 260 data using the survey method. The data were analyzed by performing T-Test and regression analysis in the statistical package program. According to the research findings, although there is a positive perception towards tourism in the islands, there are also problems caused by tourism. It can be said that Bozcaada is experiencing an overtourism problem due to reasons such as being a small island compared to Gökçeada. It can be said that Gökçeada is at the first stage, at the satisfaction level, although it is thought Bozcaada is the satisfaction level of Doxey’s model. With this study, the social carrying capacity of the two islands in Çanakkale has been put forward theoretically, and the local people's perception of overtourism has been discussed on the basis of the Doxey theory. So, in practice, sustainable tourism planning on the islands can be done by taking these findings into consideration.