KLI Balikesir University, Erdek Vocational School Key Words: Tourism impacts, resident perceptions, Kuşadası, Turkey. ABSTRACT Over the past two decades Turkey has experienced a remarkable growth in tourist numbers with overseas arrivals doubling between 1991 and 1998 and revenues reaching $7.2 billion as of 1998. It is estimated that such trend may have a significant impact upon host communities in Turkish tourist regions. This study attempts to identify the perceived impacts of tourism by residents in a community, Kuşadası, located on the Western Turkish coast. Based on a survey of 238 local residents, tourism impacts were assessed by a 33-item tourism impact scale which measures both belief and affect toward the impact attributes. According to the mean measures, the most strong and favorable perceptions toward tourism impacts are found to be associated with economic, and social and cultural aspects of tourism, while environmental matters are found to be the least favorable in terms of the perceived impacts of tourism. The study also identified whether there exist any significant differences between demographic variables and residents’ attitudes toward tourism by the analysis of variance. 1. Introduction Over the past two decades Turkey has experienced a remarkable growth in tourist numbers with overseas arrivals doubling between 1991 and 1998 and revenues reaching $7.2 billion as of 1998. It is estimated that such trend may have a significant impact upon host communities in Turkish tourist regions. Given the fact that tourism can flourish in an area only with the support of the area’s residents, it is felt that the attitudes and perceptions of residents towards tourism development and impacts serve as crucially important inputs in identifying the strategic and managerial priorities of tourism.