Second home owner's tourism perspectives: A case study in the Aegean region

Abstract

The main purpose of the research is to analyze the perception of second homeowners in Cesme Turkey about opening up their second homes to the visitors through first-hand data. Stakeholder approach is considered to understand several actors' positions and roles within a tourist setting which is exposed to international and real estate interests. The study is one of the preliminary attempts in this specific destination to understand second homeowners' attitudes towards tourism. The semi-structured questions are asked to 102 second homeowners in three specific locations within this tourism destination. Findings mainly revealed that most of the second homeowners are not willing to rent out their homes to visitors due to several reasons such as, longtime bond with the property usage of property in peak season and high level of income. More than half of the respondents prefer families or couples without children in renting out their second homes. The study not only provides a starting point for further research in this neglected field of tourism but also presents a clear perspective about these homes as a latent lodging treasure in the region.