Hoteliers of Istanbul draw attention to issues that cause problems for foreign tourists

It is reported that hoteliers operating facilities in the historical peninsula have identified the problems of the region and communicated them to the relevant authorities for their solution. They made an annnouncement saying “We are engaged in trade activities in the Fatih region and in the historical Sultanahmet Peninsula. Because we are involved in tourism sector, we are constantly traveling in the region, doing field work and research. As a result of these studies, we have found that our region has a number of shortcomings, problems.”

“We have reported these findings to the relevant authorities under the title “suggestions and requests”. Our municipal and police departments has taken our work into consideration. We are in constant contact with the competent authorities. However, due to the lack of applicable laws and sanctions and adequate implementation, incidents we do not wish to see in this area unfortunately continue.

Our aim is to promote the beauties of our country and to keep our cultural identity alive. As we take our steps for the sake of the future, we want to leave a livable world for generations after us. Our sole purpose is to introduce the cultural and historical riches of our country to tourists, to create economic resources and to represent our identity in the best way.

We can share problematic issues that are of concern regarding the comfort and happiness of our foreign guests are as follows:

1- We need to create an environment that will constantly motivate tourists to go round and travel in our region safely and comfortably. We need to ensure the safety of life and property at all times of the day when they are outside meaning adequate security measures should be provided.For instance we observe that beggars, individually or organizationally, are incredibly inconvenient to tourists. From time to time, it is also reflected in the public. There are beggars lying on the ground, exploiting emotions, constantly chasing tourists and trying to take money by force, gathering 5-6 people around garbage containers to attract the attention of tourists. Tourists also take these images and share them in social media. This, in turn, damages the image of the country, whether it wants to or not. Although our municipal and security units take precautions and make blocking efforts in this regard, unfortunately, due to the weak legal sanctions, there is no healthy solution. There are beggars running after people on every corner. Serious legal regulation and heavy sanctions are required against such incidents.

2- One of the other important problems is “commissions issue”. In our opinion, commission issue of this type is equivalent to fraud. Because it’s nothing more than a trap for tourists. This is especially seen in areas where tourism is intense. Mostly a tour guide who is after commissions (called hanut in Turkish) takes tourist groups to shops particularly designated for this purpose and receives a certain percentage. Such shops which these groups are taken to, earn quite well, while nearby artisans are able to do very little business.

In fact, it is observed that some noted that even fraud incidents have also increased because of said commission issue very likely to cause financial damage to tourists mainly.In our survey studies with tourists staying at hotels, they seem to be quite complaining about the events we mentioned above. In the face of the positive views of people who come on holiday, unfortunately, situations such as commission issue damage the image of the country. This issue must be seriously fought and the law needs to be implemented. Sanctions should be applied relentlessly. These events abuse tourists. Sanctions with a focus on resolution should not be avoided.

3- There are incredible complaints about people who sell perfume and similar items on a mobile basis. These people are behaving in violation of the rules of politeness against tourists. They try to forcibly sell a product that the tourist does not want; they resort to methods of shouting, calling, scaring. I regret to say that such incidents are increasing and becoming more dangerous every day.It is worth repeating: our municipal and police departments are doing the necessary work on this issue. However, these events happen again and again because of the weak sanctions. According to the law on misdemeanors, a fine is not a deterrent. According to the Turkish Criminal Code, acts that constitute a crime must be immediately transferred to judicial authorities.

4- We do not want to make a general comment about Taxi Drivers. However, from time to time, as we have witnessed in social and national media, there are events that are unpleasant. We know that there are some cabbies whose goal is just to hunt tourists. These people who receive an unfair price, make the drive longer, committing fraud. These should never work in the taxi sector. People who have committed crimes in the criminal record should be prevented from doing these things. The issue of applying criminal sanctions to the owner of a commercial taxi license plate must be regulated.Because, if sanctions are not heavily enforced, some detractors will continue to damage our country’s image. Serious sanctions such as blocking plates in the form of weekly, monthly periods, banning from traffic should be applied. Persons who commit acts that constitute a crime should be severely punished. There must be certain criteria for driving a taxi. A person with 10 different criminal records in the criminal register should be prevented from working in this sector.

Deceiving a tourist, being unfair to him, damages our country in every way. Our expectation in this regard is that the situations described above should be dealt with seriously and legal arrangements should be made for the issuance of deterrent penalties.”