Campsite permits in Türkiye: the kamping type, caravans and land

A campsite in Türkiye is certified as a kamping under the Regulation on the Qualifications of Tourism Facilities (No. 26344, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1134): at least ten camper units, 80 square metres per unit, and shared toilets, showers and cooking points at set ratios. On private land the municipality's zoning answer and workplace licence come first. Forest land follows Law 2634 and the forestry administration.

An owner fences a piece of coastal or rural land, runs water and power to a few pitches, paints "kamp alanı" on a board at the gate, and only then reads the rulebook. The word on the board is not the word in the rules, and the difference decides which authority answers the phone. This article walks through the certified type, the ratios that decide whether a design passes inspection, what bungalows may and may not be, and how private land and forest land follow different rulebooks, so you can ask the right questions before spending on groundworks.

What is a kamping, and is it the same as a kamp alanı?#

No. Kamp alanı is what people write on the sign; kamping is the type defined in Article 36 of the Regulation on the Qualifications of Tourism Facilities (opens in a new tab) (Presidential Decision No. 1134, consolidated to 31 August 2026).

The regulation defines a kamping as a facility of at least ten units, set up in a place of natural beauty such as the sea, a lake or mountains, where guests generally meet their own overnight, food, rest, entertainment and sport needs. The definition matters because inspection, certification and tax treatment attach to the type, not to the sign. A site that calls itself a kamp alanı is still assessed against whichever rulebook it actually falls under.

Read the consolidated text in force, not an older copy. Article 36 has been amended several times since 2018, so always check the latest consolidated text on mevzuat.gov.tr, and pre-2018 summaries will not match the current rules. This article covers the kamping type only, and does not cover the question of running bungalows as a standalone business.

Whether a site without a tourism certificate can operate lawfully depends on its zoning status and workplace licence; confirm both with the municipality. The certificate is what makes the Article 36 ratios binding.

What must a kamping contain?#

Article 36(1) sets the site, the units, the shared facilities and the services in fixed ratios, and the ratios are what most first-time designs get wrong.

The site must be fenced off from its surroundings with fences, walls or greenery and lit. Every structure must be single-storey and built of light materials that suit nature. The ground is drained and planted with trees, and empty areas are grassed. The area per camper unit is 80 square metres, and every unit is for two people; a camper unit can be a tent, tent-car, caravan, motor caravan or bungalow.

The entrance needs parking, reception, safekeeping and telephone service. Shared facilities follow the ratios: at least one women's and one men's toilet, shower and washbasin, with a socket next to the basins, for every ten camper units; at least one washing machine and an ironing place for every ten units; and, for every five units, a covered place with food preparation, cooking and dish-washing points and lockable refrigerators. Services must include a sales unit, places to empty caravans' toilet and waste-water tanks, electricity to the camper units, hot and cold water, and healthy drinking water.

Arrangements for maintaining, repairing and wintering caravans and motor caravans are optional. Optional means optional; do not budget for them as if they were required.

The ratios in one table#

Can a kamping have bungalows?#

Yes, within a cap: a bungalow is one of the five camper unit types, but it may not exceed 20% of the total units, may not exceed 20 square metres, and may not have a kitchen (Regulation 1134, Article 36(1)(b), consolidated to 31 August 2026).

The 20% is calculated against the total number of camper units, so the mix is a design decision made at the start, not a change made in season three. For example, a site with ten camper units can carry two bungalows; a third would need more units overall. No kitchen arrangement is allowed in a bungalow, and this is the rule owners most often discover after the plumbing is in. Each bungalow's total area may not exceed 20 square metres, and every unit, bungalows included, is for two people.

Kampings run by the public sector are exempt from the area limit, but their operating right may not be transferred or leased. On forest land under Article 36(2), which covers accommodation recreation areas and forest parks with accommodation, all units may be bungalows up to a maximum of 30; where bungalows are mixed with tents, tent-cars, caravans or motor caravans, they may not exceed 20% of all units and at most 30. Licensing a bungalow as a separate accommodation business is a different question and belongs to the bungalow licence route, not this rule.

For the certificate itself, see tourism certificate types in Türkiye.

Which permits apply on private land?#

On private land the first question is not the tourism regulation but the plot: its zoning status decides whether a campsite can be built there at all, and the municipality is the authority that answers.

Start with the zoning status (imar durumu) of the parcel. This article does not say which zones permit a campsite, and no general article can; the answer is parcel-specific and comes from the municipality. The workplace licence (işyeri açma ve çalışma ruhsatı) from the municipality is the permit to operate the business, a municipal instrument separate from any tourism certificate. The hotel workplace licence in Türkiye follows the same municipal logic.

A tourism certificate from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is a second track. It brings inspection against Regulation 1134, which is where the kamping ratios in this article become binding. Order matters: land use first, then the structures and their permits, then the workplace licence, then the certificate. Doing it backwards is how owners end up rebuilding. For the full sequence, see which permits come in which order when opening a property.

Write your questions down before you call anyone, and keep the answers with the file. The question list is in the section below.

What changes on forest land?#

Both the landowner and the rulebook change: forest land is governed by Additional Article 5 of the Tourism Incentive Law (opens in a new tab) (Law No. 2634), and a camp area there may contain only tents and caravans.

Only the Ministry of Culture and Tourism may allocate two kinds of place on forest land, and the revenue goes to the General Directorate of Forestry (Orman Genel Müdürlüğü, OGM): facilities on forest land that has tourism permission under Article 17(3) of Forest Law No. 6831, recorded among OGM's fixed assets and usable for lodging; and recreation areas with lodging facilities of any type and capacity. In areas counted as forest, OGM may lease land under its own legislation to build and run camp areas that contain only tents and caravans.

The allocation purpose and the use of land leased this way may not be changed. That sentence is the one to read twice before signing anything. Allocation to the Ministry, and from the Ministry to investors, follows Article 8 of the Law.

The provision has moved: added in 2019, rewritten by Law No. 7334 in 2021, with the camp-area sentence added by Law No. 7464 of 25 October 2023. Older summaries will not match it. The counterparties on forest land are therefore the forestry administration and the Ministry, not the municipality alone; ask the forestry administration which route applies to your parcel.

Does a campsite pay accommodation tax and report guests?#

Yes on both counts. A kamping is named in the accommodation tax law, and the guest identity notification duty applies to lodging facilities generally.

Article 34 of the Expenditure Taxes Law (Law No. 6802) lists the kamping among the lodging facilities whose overnight service is subject to accommodation tax. The Accommodation Tax Implementation General Communiqué (opens in a new tab) (Resmî Gazete 14 December 2022, No. 32043) lists kampings and accommodation recreation areas among the taxed facilities. How the guest stays does not matter: it is an overnight service whether guests meet their overnight needs by their own means, and whether they sleep in a tent, tent-car, trailer caravan, motor caravan, bungalow or similar unit, owned by the business or not.

Camps set aside for staff accommodation in the public or private sector are covered too, except lodgings (lojman). Services to students in student dormitories, student pensions and student camps are exempt. KBS (misafir kimlik bildirimi, the guest identity notification) is a legal duty of every lodging facility, and it does not stop at the gate of a tent pitch; see KBS explained for hotels in Türkiye. Every sale needs a fiscal document, and whether e-Fatura or e-Arşiv applies depends on the taxpayer's scope, so confirm that with your accountant rather than from an article. For the tax itself, see accommodation tax in Türkiye.

What should I ask the municipality and the provincial directorate?#

Ask early, ask in writing, and ask both bodies the same question, because the answer that stops a project usually comes from the one nobody called.

Ask the municipality for the zoning status of the parcel and whether a campsite is a permitted use there. Ask which structures need a building permit, and whether the single-storey, light-material rule in the regulation changes that answer. Ask what the workplace licence application requires for this specific site, including any fire, health or waste-water conditions.

Ask the provincial culture and tourism directorate which certificate applies to a kamping, what the inspection checks, and whether the site's unit mix is acceptable before construction. On forest land, ask the forestry administration which regime the parcel sits under, and whether it is on the allocation route or the lease route. Finally, ask your accountant which registrations follow from the answers, and from which date the accommodation tax applies.

What to do next#

Get the zoning answer for your parcel in writing before you spend on groundworks, then choose the rulebook that answer points to: the municipal route on private land, the forestry and Ministry route on forest land, with the kamping ratios of Article 36 binding the moment a tourism certificate is in play. The rest of the file, accommodation tax, KBS and fiscal documents, follows the same order as any other lodging business, and your accountant and the provincial directorate settle the parts this article deliberately leaves open.