Local Turkiye

We target 30 million tourists in 2021: Turkish Tourism Minister

Turkey will have hosted 15 million tourists and gained $ 11 billion in tourism revenues by the end of 2020. Mehmet Ersoy, the Minister of Culture and Tourism stated that the goal for 2021 is to reach at least 30 million tourists.

The 10th International Resort Tourism Congress of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers and Operators Association (AKTOB) was held digitally through live connection due to the coronavirus epidemic. Ersoy made statements about the assessment of 2020 and expectations for 2021:

‘’ Turkish ang global tourism went through a very difficult period. It seems that international tourism will be closed with an 80 percent contraction this year. Greece, which we see as a rival market in the Mediterranean basin, will close with a contraction in the 78-80 percent band and Spain close in the 80 band. It seems that we will close the end of the year with a 70 percent contraction. It looks like we will end this year with a little more than 15 million passengers and a little over $ 11 billion in revenue.

Target for 2021 should be at least 100 percent growth. If you set a target of 100 percent above 15 million, the number of passengers should be 30-31 million. I hope we will get through the summer of 2021 with a planning that is far better than 2020, yet it is still behind 2019 in terms of numbers.’’

It has been a very rough year for tourism

Stating that this year was a very difficult year in terms of tourism, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Foreign Minister noted that the many efforts were made to keep the sector alive in a period when the world was shut down due to the epidemic. Cavusoglu said:

‘’ Turkey’s tourism is at a point in the envy of the whole world thanks to the steps taken by the state and the sector together. Tourism has become one of the most important topics of Turkish diplomacy. Of course, I also attach special importance to tourism diplomacy since my hometown Antalya became one of the tourism capitals of the world. ‘’

Turkish tourism will come forward

Hakan Ates, general manager of DenizBank stated that the number of tourists have decreased by 700 million worldwide, there is a loss of $ 730 billion in tourism income and that the effect of tourism losses on global GNP in 2020 is calculated as $ 4.7 trillion. Ates also noted that it would take 2-3 years to reach the old figures. Explaining that tourism sector-oriented supports continue globally, Hakan Ates said:

‘’ Turkey has achieved great success in adapting new travel habits. Trends in the world have led to more preference for nature tourism. Turkey is perfect for this job; we carry our hopes in this way next year. Culture, sea, sun, faith tourisms in Turkey will stand out even more.’’

Turkey adapted new trends fast

Erkan Yagci, president of AKTOB stated that the importance of technology and hygiene is understood more clearly with the extraordinary event in the world, he said:

‘’ Turkey adapted new trends very fast compared to other tourism destinations.’’

source: haberler.com / translated by Melisa Karayusufoglu / image: biletbayi.com  

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