Experts say 2016 has been a disaster for Antalya tourism and agriculture
We are not very keen on European Union but 70 percent of our incoming tourism is from EU. This is a statement made by Davut Çetin, the person in charge of commerce and industry in Antalya.
Mr. ÇETİN, the president of ATSO (Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry) says “2016 was a tough lesson for Antalya region and the sector realized what tourism meant for Turkey. The main issue now is how to recover 2007. Thus we do look forward to hearing the tourism incentives to be announced and put into effect by the authority”.
At a meeting organized by the Antalya Chamber of Commerce & Industry on which occasion some successful members were awarded for their performances, the president delivered a speech about the problems of the tourism and agriculture sectors mainly, suggesting solutions as well.
He said “2016 has been a tough lesson for us to learn and we are now aware of the importance of tourism and Russian tourists, for sure. Antalya has lived through a disaster in terms of tourism, agriculture, commerce and industry, in 2016. We are conducting a detailed survey for the damage we have incurred. We have observed downsizing of staff with half of our members due to decrease in sales figures. Many members have stated they were not able to use loans. But the main issue above all remains to be the stagnation in business and the problem of money collection.
We have two suggestions: These are namely tax reduction and arrangements to speed up collections. We regret to comment that expectations for 2017 are not very promising either, as we see it. Nevertheless we are aware and appreciative of the support the government has tried to extend us in this regard such as export incentives for agricultural sector and finance incentives which were not enough to prevent the disaster we have experienced this year.
Despite obstacles and negativities such as terrorism and Russian crisis in tourism, Antalya has organized and hosted EXPO International Event and received 6 million tourists bringing in a revenue of 1 billion dollars from exportation activities and has made a tax contribution of over 4 billion Turkish Liras to the treasury. Last year 52,000 houses were sold in first ten months as compared to 49,000 homes sold in first 10 months this year. This performance is despite all negativities incurred this year. However the main issue remains to be how to make sure 2017 is not lost, too. Accordingly we expect tourism and agriculture incentives to be announced and put into effect in due time.”
We are not particularly keen on European Union but half of our exportation is to Europe. More than half of Turkey’s tourism and 70 percent of Antalya tourism is dependent on European market. Thus we need to explain our point of view to European public opinion, better.
We have all done somethings in terms of promoting Antalya. This year we are working on a new promotion move as well. However we believe a solid attempt is required to be carried out by the government in specific now, regarding image of Turkey in Europe.”
SOURCE: MEDIA / Edited
