Ross Cook-Bennett

The thesis explores how holiday resorts, typically designed for foreign tourists, are used by domestic tourists and local people as places of escapism and freedom in socially polarised, increasingly authoritarian countries. Using Turkey as a case study, the project examines resorts as spaces retaining a liberalised, Europeanised culture during times of increasing conservatism and religiosity elsewhere in the country, and the significance these places have to domestic tourists and local inhabitants as a means to escape their country without physically leaving it. The project aims to examine the relationship between tourist resorts and Turkish identity, particularly how resorts are attractive to certain sections of Turkish society seeking a Western, liberal or European lifestyle. Turkey's peripheral position between Europe and Asia, its trans-cultural identity, its complex history with religion and secularism, and its current political climate will be considered throughout the research.