Tax Crisis in Antalya Tourism: Additional Tax Threat to Local and Foreign Tourists

A proposal brought to the agenda by Aykut Kaya, a member of the Good Party and Antalya Deputy, in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) has raised concerns in the tourism sector in Antalya.

The proposed model includes imposing an additional tax on local and foreign tourists flocking to the city during the tourism season. Experts say this situation could lead to a crisis affecting Antalya’s tourism revenues and the number of visitors. While the deputy’s proposal aims to generate extra funds for the city’s infrastructure and development needs, it is caused serious concerns among tourism sector representatives and visitors.

Good Party Antalya Deputy Aykut Kaya, in his speech at the Turkish Grand National Assembly, stated that the population hosted by Antalya during the tourism season was approximately nine times the city’s regular population. He proposed the imposition of a city tax on local and foreign tourists.

Deputy Aykut Kaya expressed that Antalya’s population was around 2.7 million and increased significantly during the tourism season. Kaya emphasized that the support received from the central government to Antalya was insufficient under this density and highlighted the importance of a city tax from local and foreign tourists for the city’s development.

Kaya argued that the city tax model, successfully implemented in many countries worldwide, should also be implemented in Turkey. He noted that this model stipulated that the taxes collected should be used solely for the infrastructure and development projects of the respective city.