ABSTRACT
The phenomenon of northern Europeans retiring to southern Europe is not new. Numerous communities of “permanent tourists” have been established by those seeking a better climate or migrating for economic, health and other lifestyle factors. Consequently, such tourist migration and its associated impacts on local society and culture in destination areas, have long been explored. Nevertheless, one country yet to benefit from academic scrutiny in this context, is Turkey, despite there being more than 110,000 foreign-owned properties (35,249 British-owned) there. The purpose of this chapter is to address this significant gap in the literature. Drawing on research undertaken among stakeholders in the second-home property sector in Didim, Turkey, it explores local people’s perceptions of and responses to permanent tourists, focusing in particular on issues related to their integration and cultural exchange with the local community. A number of themes emerge, not least transformations in the market for second homes reflecting oversupply and diminishing demand, suggesting more effective sector management is required. The local community was found to hold generally positive perceptions of permanent tourists although the relationship between the two groups was revealed to be no less superficial than that between local people and ‘normal’ tourists. However, local people’s views of permanent tourists were influenced by political and religious beliefs while both practical (language) barriers and differing lifestyle expectations served to limit integration between the two communities.
