Uludağ winter tourism and its importance in the economic development

Abstract

Tourism which is a regional means of development is closely related with the local economic development. Winter tourism is a set of activities and relationships composed of trips made to the regions which are located in the heart of ski sports and accordingly with slopes and snow, accommodations and other services. Since winter tourism mainly consists of a number of activities depending on snowy environments, it requires locations with certain height and slope which will also allow the execution of other nature sports such as walking, climbing etc. besides skiing and snowboarding. Uludag, the most popular winter sports center which is 30 km away from the Bursa city center has significant natural advantages in terms of winter tourism. However, with the recently changing tourism demands in winter tourism, developments have been taking place in the types of tourism. Uludag having natural advantages have not been able to sufficiently benefit from these advantages and cannot make use of its existing potential. Besides the countries having sucessful snow resorts of Europe such as Austria, France, Switzerland, Italy and Andorra, Romania and Bulgaria are also increasing their competitiveness in the international markets in recent years with ambitious investments. When Uludag which is in the location of the largest snow resort in Turkey is compared with these resorts, it is thought that there is a way to go in the field of winter tourism. Starting from this idea, in the research, it is aimed to identify the contribution of Uludag to the local economic development and the potentials for increasing this contribution. Towards the mentioned aim, the study will be carried out based on field research. In the conclusion of the study, it is planned to submit the proposals focused on policy and strategy to be followed in terms of having Uludag use its potential in the most efficient way and provide more contribution to the local economy. In addition, its thought that the results to be obtained will be a basis for another study with the subject " the comparison of Uludag with foreign snow resorts in terms of wintertourism" which is planned to be conducted after the study is completed.