Regarding Turkey's tourism target, Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said, “While everyone expected that we would revise the targets downwards with the conflict environment in the Black Sea, we revised them upwards. We declared 47 million tourists and 37 billion dollars revenue target. I do not see any difficulties in achieving this goal. Realizations are in this direction.” said.
At the press conference held within the scope of the “City Meetings Ordu Towards 2023” program at a hotel in Ordu, Ersoy said that Ordu is one of the cities that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attaches importance to, and that he follows the developments here very closely.
Pointing out that Ordu is a city with a lot of potential in terms of tourism, Ersoy stated that they aim to conclude the projects related to this place quickly.
Ersoy stated that their target is not only 2023 and continued as follows:
“Until 2028, we want to complete the investments quickly within the framework of the vision set for Ordu. Ordu is a city with a wide tourism potential, both because it is a coastal city and with its high plateaus and high mountains. We are a city that has preserved both its green and nature. These are the most important values for future tourism at the moment. Nature has come to the fore in tourism movements, especially after the pandemic. If we count its unique gastronomy, we are aware that we can get a lot in return for everything we do in Ordu.”
Pointing out the importance of this trip, Ersoy said, “We will have the opportunity to work on these projects in detail in the coming weeks. Previously, our mayor had given preliminary information about the projects during their visit. Now we will make our determinations on the spot and finalize them quickly.” he said.
Noting that they did not come to Ordu only for tourism purposes, Ersoy said, “Army people are very inclined towards culture and art. This is actually an awareness visit about what needs to be done about culture and art, expanding the activities here and supporting the activities. Hopefully, we will see an Army where culture and arts programs increase. Our mayors have worked. All we have to do is support. To increase the number of event activities by taking the tour programs of the general directorates under my Ministry more.” used the phrases.
“First of all, we changed Turkey's league”
After answering the questions of the journalists, Minister Ersoy said that they are planning the tourism season in Turkey as 12 months, upon a question asked about the latest process in tourism.
Pointing out that the tourism sector was declared a strategic sector by President Erdogan in Turkey in 2018, Ersoy continued his words as follows:
“First of all, we changed Turkey's league. We have now targeted the same group as the countries in the Mediterranean region that host high-income tourists. We targeted the same league. In this context, our most important breakthrough is the increase in income per person per night. We all observe that the per capita income per person, which has fallen a lot during the pandemic period and tended to fall a lot before, has increased very rapidly in these periods. During the pandemic period, the world has faced the biggest crises, especially the tourism sector, as never before. However, with the measures we have taken in this period, the legal regulations we have taken come first. Thanks to these, when we look at the tourism sector, we have become the country that shrank the least compared to our competitors in the pandemic and made the fastest exit after the pandemic.”
Emphasizing that they achieved rapid growth both last year and this year, Minister Ersoy said, “At the beginning of this year, Turkey started with the target of 42 million tourists and an income of 34,5 billion dollars at the beginning of the season. But then, with the conflict environment in the Black Sea, while everyone expected that we would revise the targets downwards, we revised them upwards. We declared 47 million tourists and 37 billion dollars revenue target. I do not see any difficulties in achieving this goal. Realizations are also in this direction. In fact, I think that Turkey will complete above these targets.” said.
“October bookings are going very well across Turkey”
Stating that they had a very successful period as of the end of September, Ersoy said, “October reservations are going very well across Turkey. We are paying attention in the last quarter. Especially since May and June, many regions are closing with realizations above 2019, which was before the crisis. My prediction is that Turkey will close the 47 million tourists and 37 billion dollars revenue target, which we have revised upwards, with a higher revision.” he said.
Ersoy noted that they looked ahead, they made plans for 2023 and then 2028, and that there was no problem in terms of tourism.
Asked by a journalist when the 2-centimeter-high marble statue of the Mother Goddess Cybele, which was excavated during the Ordu Council Castle excavations and estimated to be 100 years old, will be brought and exhibited in the city, Minister Ersoy said, “The statue needs to be exhibited correctly. We will exhibit it after we create the necessary environment.” gave the answer.
“THY completes pilot purchases”
Culture and Tourism Minister Ersoy answered the question whether it would contribute more to tourism if the number of flights at Ordu-Giresun Airport were increased as follows:
“There is a problem in the world after the pandemic. You see that airports around the world cannot be operated. Even existing airports cannot be operated, there are serious flight cancellations. After the pandemic, a very serious crisis occurred in the sector. Turkey is the only country that survived this crisis with the least damage and even without being caught in the crisis. As we did not encounter any cancellations, very, very small cancellations were made and most of the cancellations were caused by the other party, not by us. But in growth, you cannot grow as fast as you would like. Because there is a shortage of pilots and aircraft. Since the sector was closed for two years, there were problems because it was in the shrinking phase. But by 2023, I don't think there will be a problem with the number of flights. Because THY is completing pilot purchases. He made plans for his growth rate to be faster than before. I do not think that there will be a problem in domestic flights after the beginning of the year. The important thing right now is to create supply and demand. When these happen, these problems will be solved by themselves.”
The aim of the Cultural Road Project is to spread the festivals all over Anatolia.
Stating that the Cultural Road Project was implemented in 5 cities, Ersoy said, “We started with the Beyoğlu Cultural Road Festivals in Istanbul. Afterwards, it took place in the capital, as the Capital Culture Road Festival. This year we included Çanakkale. We have taken the Konya Mystical Festival under our protection. Finally, it was held in Diyarbakir. Our priority is to spread the festivals to seven regions in the Cultural Road projects, and then to spread them all over Anatolia, starting in the big cities.” shared his knowledge.
Asked whether there is a study for cruise ships to come to Ordu, Ersoy said, “Many points such as the infrastructure of the city, places to visit, historical places should be formed for the cruise ship. It's not going to be easy. If you look at the cities with the main cruise ports, Istanbul comes, Kusadasi comes, Bodrum comes. All of them have archaeological historical points. Stops have already started in the Black Sea. It will happen in time. But we have a process to go a little further ahead of us.” he replied.
On the question regarding the construction of the Ünye Cultural Center, Minister Ersoy said that they aim to complete the project quickly with the new tender.
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