INTRODUCTİON: REİNVENTİNG THE SOCİOLOGY OF TOURİSM

THE MAGNİTUDE OF TOURİSM

Tourism, the ‘largest peacetime movement of people’ presents itself as a challenging sociocultural phenomenon. Since the Second World War, the growth of the tourism industry and its promotion by international financial organizations as an agent of quick economic development and change have been unprecedented.

THE MAGNİTUDE OF TOURİSM

The international tourism industry- the largest industry in the world- holds a very influential position in the world economy and belongs to those economic sectors offering realistic potential for long-term growth, especially with the immense worldwide expansion of the service sector.

THE MAGNİTUDE OF TOURİSM

In 1994, international tourism produced approximately $3.5 trillion in gross output (6.1 per cent of global GDP) and employed close to 130 million people, 6.8 per cent of workers worldwide.

For the same year, the tourism industry accounted for 12.3 per cent of consumer expense, absorbed 75 per cent of the total capital investment, and payed almost 6 per cent of total tax payments.

THE MAGNİTUDE OF TOURİSM

As with several aspects of modern life, the development and expansion of the tourism industry has brought both ‘blessings’ and ‘curses’ to the socioeconomic and sociocultural spheres.

SOCİOECONOMİC SPHERETourism has dramatically affected; Foreign Exchange Income Employment Prices The distribution of benefits Ownership and control Development Government Revenue

SOCİOCULTURAL SPHERE

Tourism has affected; Community involvement in wider

frameworks The nature of interpersonal relations The bases of social organization The rhythm of social life Migration The division of labor Stratification The distribution of power

THE MAGNİTUDE OF TOURİSM

The ‘advocacy-based’, ‘cautionary-based’, and ‘adaptancy-based’ platforms currently in use are one dimensional approaches to tourism. They focus primarily on either the positive or negative aspects of the industry , and are not mutually exclusive or able to replace one another.

THE MAGNİTUDE OF TOURİSM

The ‘knowledge-based’ platform, takes into account the multidimensionality of tourism, presenting a balanced perspective which bridges various existing views and is intended to contribute to the formulation of a scientific body of tourism.