Examination of Mediterranean Countries According to Tourism Data with Cluster Analysis

In economic terms, tourism is a socio-economic phenomenon that starts with an economic decision on how to use leisure time and savings and has economic aspects such as investment, consumption, employment, exports and public revenues. The tourism sector is one of the fastest growing sectors. Tourism revenues are an important component of the national income of countries. The increase in tourism activities directly increases tourism revenues and contributes to the increase in employment, positive impact on the balance of payments and closing the foreign trade deficit. Understanding the importance of tourism for national economies in terms of the productivity of the tourism sector is of great importance in a global world where competition is intense and economic conditions are severe. The aim of this study is to classify the countries in the Mediterranean basin, which have a large share in world tourism, according to their similarities. Mediterranean countries are Turkey's strongest competitors in the field of tourism. Many studies show that the economic growth of these countries is positively correlated with their tourism revenues. In this context, using the Travel and Tourism Development Index prepared by the World Economic Forum and some important tourism indicators, Mediterranean countries were classified according to their similarities by k-means clustering analysis. As a result of the analysis, the 18 Mediterranean countries included in the study were classified into 2 clusters, with Italy, France and Spain forming the 1st cluster, while the other Mediterranean countries (Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Lebanon, Cyprus, Malta, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Portugal) formed the 2nd cluster.