ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF TOURISM SECTOR IN BALKAN COUNTRIES AND AN ANALYSIS OF THE TOURISM RELATIONS BETWEEN TURKEY AND BALKAN COUNTRIES

Abstract

The Balkan region which has been unstable up to 2000s now host leading markets that make progress and attract attention in global economy from an economic,political, geographical, historical and cultural perspective. Particularly the newreforms and legal arrangements introduced in the Balkan countries within the framework of harmonization efforts with the European Union contributed to the emergence of a new environment of stability and peace. Positive development is observed if the general economic performance of the Balkan countries is analyzed by sectors. According to the tourism data of the World Tourism Organization in2011, tourism has become popular in recent yearsin Western Balkans; however, cross-border tourism has been in decline in many parts of the region due to the decrease in the spendable income. In addition, the tourists prefer developing countries; the change in this preference and the impact ofthe global economic crisis contributed to the rise of domestic and international tourism in the Balkan countries. Turkey's relations with the Balkans which appear to be extension of Turkey in the European continent have improved in a wide range of fields including economy, social affairs, culture and tourism. After introduction of project by Turkish Airlines, "Visa-Free Balkans," in 2011, the Turkish citizens became more interested in having vacation in the Balkans. It is also visible that Balkan countries have diversified their tourism options and that in addition, seasand and sun, they have other alternatives to offer including health tourism andfaith tourism.In this study, the necessary business enterprises on accommodation, traveling,transportation, food and catering in order to improve this potential and make it tourism supply in Balkan tourism and other relevant countries in international tourism market will be examined first. Subsequent to the examination of the tourism supply, the demand for tourism in these countries will be evaluated in the second part and the profile of the visitors by foreign active-foreign passive and domestic tourism will be drawn. The purpose in these two sections is to examine the tourism sector which contributes extensively to the economic and social development of these countries by focusing on its economic dimension. In the third section, the tourism relations between Balkan states and Turkey which is a remarkable destination in global market and ranked among the first ten countries by number of visitors and international tourism revenues as evidenced by the World TourismOrganization's data through economic, social and cultural dimensions. In the concluding section, some recommendations will be made on how to improvetourism relations between Turkey and Balkan states which already enjoy close tiesin economic and cultural spheres.