Examination Of Cities In Turkey With Cluster Analysis According To Tourism Data

As in all countries, in Turkey, tourism is one sector holds an important place in the economy. In this study, it is aimed to reveal the similarities and differences by clustering the provinces according to tourism statistics. The unifying hierarchical clustering technique proposed by Ward was used as a method. Squared Euclidean distance was used as the distance measure. In addition to visitor accommodation statistics, variables showing the tourism capacities of the provinces are also included in the analysis. Clustering was made for foreign and domestic visitors, and the similarities of the provinces in different types of visitors were examined. According to the findings, Antalya and Istanbul always differ from other provinces in terms of both foreign and domestic visitor statistics. In terms of foreign visitors, provinces are clustered according to their similar tourism potentials, while in terms of domestic visitors, provinces with different tourism potentials can be located in the same clusters. This result shows that foreigners make visit preferences according to the classifications such as sea, culture and nature tourism.