Yiğit Girgin, General Manager of Bodrium Hotel & SPA, said that both Turkey and Bodrum attracted great attention as important tourism destinations at ITB Berlin, one of the world's largest tourism fairs. Girgin pointed out that more than 3 thousand professional visitors from 180 countries participated in the international organization, which was held after a 90-year hiatus due to the pandemic and was shown as a reference fair.
Noting that Turkey is an important tourism market that has proven itself for years with the service quality it offers, Yiğit Girgin said, “There was a structure focused on destination promotion and marketing at the fair. Turkey has attracted great interest in terms of country tourism. Our area was large at the fair, and the participation was strong. Turkish Airlines and the stands of our Ministry hosted many delegations. In this sense, important connections were made both in Turkey and in Bodrum. As a major player, Turkey is now in a global competition in the tourism sector. In 2023, we will continue to step up. At the beginning of this are the Asia-Pacific countries, which include exotic tourism destinations. Arab countries such as Dubai and Qatar have opened up to the world, especially with accommodation opportunities in the luxury segment.
WE WILL SIGN A GOOD SEASON AGAIN IN 2023
Expressing that Turkey continues its steady growth in the sector, Girgin continued as follows: “As a country, we are in a position to export managers in tourism. We see that Turkish managers come to high levels abroad. Our product and service quality and pricing encourage us that this season will be even more active. The year 2023 will have a planning capacity higher than the year 2022. Sales that slowed down due to earthquakes are slowly opening up. This tells us that we have to be cautious and that our different instruments should be put into use. We all experienced together how fast the country was able to recover after the earthquake, no matter how difficult it was. The British market starts in April. Germans will also show an increase in demand this year compared to last year. Russia's only market will almost be Turkey. It is not clear what will happen in the global market. Because there are also elements such as the election environment or the endless war. If everything proceeds under normal conditions, 2023 will be even better than last year. Turkey tourism will gain a significant momentum for the 2023 season”
CO-OPERATION AGAINST DISASTER
Yiğit Girgin noted that as tourism professionals from Bodrum, they offer accommodation to those affected by the great earthquake disaster in our country, and continued his words as follows: “Bodrum tourism professionals showed strong solidarity against the earthquake disaster. At the first stage, approximately 40 thousand earthquake survivors are accommodated in Muğla and approximately 10-11 thousand in hotels and houses in Bodrum. Our government aims to accommodate our guests in a more stable place in the second stage after our earthquake victims are hosted in hotels. This year, cost increases in Turkey have increased significantly. I think this will settle a little more in the coming period. There may be a contraction in purchasing power in the domestic market. Hoteliers will offer alternatives so that the domestic market can also benefit. Even if the prices increase, people will benefit from different accommodation options”
WE ARE READY FOR THE NEW SEASON
Reminding that as Bodrium Hotel & SPA, they are preparing strongly for the new season, Girgin said, “Our work focused on human resources and business development continues at Bodrum. We accelerated personnel training with our newly created business development department. We are improving our service quality even more. In our Bodrium Otelcilik, İanua SPA and TYRO Italian Restaurant, we maintain our innovative line in quality and service. We continue with organizations and sponsorships in order to introduce ourselves locally. We establish strong dialogues with our guests to promote the local texture. Here we are trying to give details of Bodrum's gastronomy, historical and natural features. We implement a serious quality management system. We take steps in green hospitality and continue to work to minimize our carbon footprint. We are ready to host our guests in the best way for 2023," he said.