Refugee crisis (RC) after the Arab Spring (AS) and its impacts on Turkish tourism industry: The case of Istanbul

• Main Authors: Füsun İstanbullu Dinçer, Eyüp Karayılan, Merve Aydoğan Çifçi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Istanbul University 2017-06-01
• Series: Journal of Tourismology
• Subjects: Arab Spring (AS); Refugee crisis (RC); Tourism-migration nexus
• Online Access: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/iuturizmoloji/issue/36494/415190?publisher=istanbul

The Arab Spring began as social movements in Middle East and shortly after uprisings, regime changes and civil wars emerged. Apart from all, more than five million people are forced to refuge from Syria to neighbouring countries. The article is intended to explore the effects of the refugees on Turkish tourism industry with evidences from Istanbul. A semi-structured elite interviews have been used as the data collection method. Eight face to face interviews are conducted in Istanbul with scholars, professionals and specialists from different areas and study fields. Five common themes are derived from the collected data. These are illegal employment, tourism investment, tourism demand, social conflict and tourist experience. The case study makes important theoretical contribution to the tourism literature since it examines the impacts of refugee crisis with a different perspective of migration-led tourism.