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Minister of Culture and Tourism: 28 million tourists, $22 billion revenue

Stating that the Ataturk Cultural Center (AKM) was put into service in a record time 2.5 years after its foundation was laid, Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said that despite the pandemic conditions, progress was made at a great pace. Ersoy, who made a presentation on the 2022 budget of his ministry at the Planning and Budget Committee of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, stated that the total number of facilities and vehicles that were entitled to receive the Safe Tourism Certificate reached 11 thousand 595.

TARGET REVISED

Pointing out that tourism activities have not yet reached pre-pandemic levels, as in the whole world, Ersoy said, “However, as a result of the successful efforts, we revised our $25 million tourists and 20 billion revenue target, which we set at the beginning of the season, to 28 million tourists and $22 billion revenue. The pleasing development here is that the expenditure per capita of $630 in 2018 was $830 as of the first 9 months.”

Reminding that the protocol signed with the Ministry of National Education (MEB) in 2018, tourism vocational high schools were matched with hotels, Ersoy stated that they aimed to create a qualified managerial class in tourism by expanding these studies to include university education. Ersoy said, “We will harmonize the curriculum of tourism universities with Anatolian tourism technical high schools and ensure that the general manager and assistant general managers of the future are trained in Turkey. When this process is completed, Turkey will become a country that exports general managers and assistant general managers to the world.”

Ersoy stated that the number of Blue Flag beaches, which was 486 in 2020, reached 519 this year, that they brought 525 artifacts from abroad, reaching the highest number of the last 10 years in the fight against cultural smuggling, and that the total number of artifacts brought from abroad increased to 4,967 since 2002.

AKM DONE IN RECORD TIME

Mentioning the Istanbul Ataturk Cultural Center, which was opened on October 29, Ersoy said, “We put AKM into service 2.5 years after its foundation was laid, in a record time. Despite the pandemic conditions, we progressed at great speed. They completed a similar structure in Europe in 7.5 years and cost €866 million. We, on the other hand, completed AKM in one-fourth of this cost and one-third of the time. In terms of architecture, we have preserved the old and original designs and modernized them. The biggest reason why we completed this work so quickly is our Presidential Government System.”

Source: Sabah / Translated by Irem Yildiz

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