1The Perception of Tourism Development in a Less Developed Region-

Mardin is a candidate city for the World Heritage Sites List with its stone architecture and unique religious and traditional buildings in Turkey. The city is defined as “cultural landscape area ” with its medieval view. It appeals to the visitors as one of the most attractive cities, which has unique cultural heritage and socio-cultural aspects. Tourism has been considered as a main component enlivening the city’s economy especially in recent years. To sustain the tool illustrated above, the local view towards tourism and tourists needs to be measured. The aim of this paper is to measure the local’s attitudes towards tourism and economic development relations in a less developed region. The study is focused on findings about socio-demographic analyses and perception of local people’s view towards tourism. Development of the study involved a staged process of survey, analysis and assessment which included public consultation