Samsun province is an important settlement area which has hosted many civilizations in the Black Sea Region and has a history of 6.000 years. It provides opportunity for every kind of tourism with 7 registered tourism centers, 200 km of coast, blue flag beaches, numerous sites and registered structures, archaeological and ethnographic artefacts exhibited in the museums, State Opera and Ballet, State Theatre, art galleries organizing activities in all seasons of the year, meeting halls for congress tourism, sports facilities,  hundreds of endemic plants, highlands, mountain ranges, forests, paragliding areas, snow slopes and grass slopes, bird sanctuary, lakes and waterfalls.

Despite the small share of tourism in the economy of Samsun, there are many historical and touristic places worth seeing in the towns and villages as well as in the city centre. Ayvacık offers water sports, Ladik offers winter sports, Havza offers hot spring tourism and Vezirköprü offers cultural tourism opportunities. People enjoy sea and sand in the summer, and hunting in winter months.

Samsun is part of the DOKAP project aimed at meeting basic infrastructure needs in the Eastern Black Sea Region and accelerating economic development and social development in the region. The green route within the scope of the project goes through Salıpazarı, Ayvacık and Ladik highlands and ends in Kızılırmak Delta Bird Sanctuary, which is one of UNESCO natural world heritage sites.