Purpose: In recent years, the tourism sector has been one of the leading sectors in the economic development process all over the world, especially in Turkey. In this respect, the aim of the study is to analyse the relationship between the tourism sector and economic development in Turkey in both long and short terms. Method: ARDL bounds test approach and Granger causality analysis methods were used to investigate the relationship between the tourism sector and economic development. In the study, while tourism income was used as the dependent variable, real GDP, number of tourists, human development index, rule of law index and economic crisis effect variables were used as independent variables. The data for the variables is based on the period 1995-2019. Findings: Short and long-term relationships have been identified between the tourism sector and economic development according to the findings obtained. According to the causality analysis, one-way Granger causality relationship from tourism income and number of tourists to real GDP and one-way from the rule of law index to tourism income has been determined. Originality: In the literature, there are many studies between tourism and economic development in recent years. Unlike other studies, this study uses the rule of law index and human developed index variables. In addition, the determination of the effects of these variables on the tourism sector can be said as one of the features that make the study different.