Analysis of public resources allocated to tourism: Türkiye - Italy comparison

This study aims to analyze and compare the shares allocated to tourism from the general budgets of Türkiye and Italy and to identify deficiencies based on this comparison. In this context, the historical research method, a type of quantitative research design, has been employed. In accordance with this method and the analysis of secondary data, the revenues and expenditures of Türkiye and Italy, one of the tourism competitors in the Mediterranean basin, from 2002 to 2023, and the budgets between 2014 and 2024 were compared. The data were obtained from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism), the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Türkiye, the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, as well as the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism, and the National Tourism Agency of Italy (ENIT). For the development of Türkiye’s tourism policies and strategies, it is essential to analyze the current status and budgets of competing countries. This necessity has motivated the present study. The findings indicate that Türkiye’s tourism budget has been decreasing annually and is insufficient in this regard. Furthermore, as there is no existing study in the literature that compares the tourism ministries and state budgets of different countries, this research highlights its originality and significance. In this respect, the study is expected to provide an important opportunity for future research on the comparison of tourism revenues, expenditures, and budgets across countries. By making use of these results, Türkiye can gain a better understanding of its competitors’ strategies and therefore achieve its tourism goals more effectively.