Minister Ersoy: 10 thousand tourists arrive every hour … The hotel without a certificate will not be able to work

Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said that 10 thousand tourists arrived in Turkey every hour. The Minister shared important information below, regarding tourism activities in the country.

“There are many crises in the geography we live in. We needed to make the industry immune to them. There is everything for tourism in Turkey. Sea, sand, sun, culture, gastronomy, nature, history… We have drawn the new roadmap with the right planning, promotion and strategy. First, we established the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA). Previously, it was promoted by public hands. Now the board of directors, which has independent management and consists of members elected mainly by the private sector, manages the agency’s budget; The agency decides ‘which countries’, ‘with what intensity’ and ‘how much to spend on promotion’. More flexible and proactive actions are also being taken in promotional activities. We are working hard not only with TV ads, i.e. offline media, but also with digital and social media.

We have significantly increased the weight of PR activities in the promotion and will increase it even more. We have become the most intense and most effective promotional country in the pandemic. At the very beginning of the pandemic, we implemented the “Safe Tourism Certificate” in tourism enterprises. It was a first in the world. Many countries ask ‘How did you manage to do this?’

We have focused on market diversity. In addition, there is no lack of infrastructure in Turkey, both in terms of airports, ports and roads. There are no slot problems at Istanbul Airport today. With Galataport, we are able to accommodate the world’s giant cruise ships. We have a brand such as Turkish Airlines. It flies to 330 cities of the world. Every point where a flight is made is now our destination.”

THESE BROUGHT 90 PERCENT INCREASE IN NUMBER OF TOURISTS LAST YEAR

“This year has started well. The first 6 months of realizations and forward-looking bookings are going just fine. The number of tourists visiting our country in May increased by 308.5 percent compared to the same month last year. By the end of June, we will have an estimated 19 million figures. In 2019, 52 million tourists had arrived, and we had generated revenues of $ 34.5 billion. This year, we have given 42 million tourists, a revenue target of $ 35 billion. I believe that we can exceed this when we take into account the developments.”

What is the daily tourist figure right now?

“On Sunday June 26, 220 thousand tourists entered Turkey in a single day. This number continues to increase every day.”

THE SEARCH FOR SAUDS HAS INCREASED BY 8 TIMES

“Turkey’s diplomatic traffic has been quite intense lately… how does this affect tourism?

After the official visit of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed Bin Salman to Turkey, searches for Turkey in Saudi Arabia increased by 8 times in 1 day. We are expecting 250 thousand tourists to arrive this year. In 2023, this figure may increase to 750 thousand. We also welcome a large number of guests from Israel. We expect 3.5 million visitors from the UK. We want to welcome 5 million Brits next year. Prices in hotels have also increased. The demand of Europeans to visit our country is gratifying. As of July, Antalya has achieved maximum efficiency in tourist capacity. 11 million tourists will come to Antalya this year. Last year the figure was 9 million.”

OVERNIGHT STAY INCREASED TO 10.8 DAYS

“What is the tourism income per person currently?

This figure had gone down to 647 dollars. Now it’s up to $ 845. Our goal for 2023 was $867 per visitor and $86 per person per night. We came close to this in terms of per capita income. But the main thing is that it comes per person per night. We have concentrated on this in the coming process. It is not difficult to catch the figures we are aiming for…”

ACCESS TO 200 COUNTRIES AND 327 MILLION

“What was the contribution of the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency?

We advertise on television and digital channels in 140 countries. As a result of our cooperation with CNN International, BBC World and Al Jazeera International, which broadcasts globally, the number of countries we promote is up to 200. In 2022, we have hosted nearly 3 thousand people from 74 countries of the world, including opinion leaders, members of the press, high-profile influencers and tour operators, at 163 events in our country so far in 2022. One thousand 426 of these guests are press, influencer and opinion leaders … As a result of these welcomes, we have gained 19.7 billion access abroad and 327 million access on social media. By the end of 2022, we will accommodate about 6 thousand people, 3 thousand of whom are opinion leaders, the press and influencers.”

THE TARGET IS 200 MILLION CLICKS

“How many countries did the advertising and marketing take place in?

We carry out advertising work together by making agreements with close to 170 tour operators, airlines and tourism agencies from 43 countries. We are engaged in destination marketing covering 29 countries in the online tourism Sunday with Tripadvisor, Expedia, Skyscanner and Hotelbeds. As of June 24, the number of unique visitors of the Go Turkey platform was 71 million. Our goal this year is to get 200 million clicks. There are 50 products here. We could increase it to 100 if we wanted.”