Abstract

Studies on the perception and attitudes of local people towards the tourism have been increasing. The aim of this study is to examine the perception and attitude of the local residents living in settlements that are physically close to tourism destinations but far away from tourism activities. The central district of Muğla was chosen as Menteşe for the study field. Data gathered from 407 participants via structured questionnaire method. In order to test the hypothesis of the research, exploratory factor analysis and correlation analysis were performed to determine the relationship between the research variables. The results indicate that there is a relationship between local residents‟ attitudes towards economic, environmental and socio - cultural effects of tourism and support for tourism development. The study is important because it covers the opinion of the local resident in regions far away from the tourism centers and the possibly it contributes to the field in this context. This study also has importance due to the fact that it is one of the first studies in Muğla city center where there are not many tourism activities while there is intensive tourism development in neighboring settlements.