100-day plan to supercharge Turkish tourism: Official

100-day action plan to be start of Turkish tourism sector's transformation, says association of travel agencies chair

ISTANBUL:

Projects in the government’s 100-day action plan to supercharge Turkey’s tourism sector will make the world sit up and see Turkey as a major destination, a top tourism official told Anadolu Agency on Monday. 

"These kinds of projects with cultural and art activities will bring Turkey to the global stage and make it a new destination for tourists with large disposable income," said Firuz Baglikaya, head of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB). 

The 100-day plan, unveiled last week by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will be the start of the Turkish tourism sector's transformation, he added. 

Projects to boost Turkey’s tourist draw are a major part of the action plan. 

The plan includes projects to attract more Chinese tourists, improved travel infrastructure investments, and opening Gobeklitepe, the world's oldest temple, in Turkey’s southeast, to visitors.

Baglikaya said flight service to Far Eastern countries such as China and India will be expanded once Istanbul’s new airport opens this fall. 

"We aim to attract more high-income tourists from China and India," he said. 

Mentioning how China declared 2018 the Year of Turkish Tourism, Baglikaya said the number of Chinese tourists visiting Turkey jumped 93 percent in the first half of this year. 

"We will close the year with a record high number of Chinese tourists," he said. 

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Festivals in Turkey's tourist spots to boost number of Indian visitors

Indian envoy to Ankara Sanjay Bhattacharyya announced that the embassy plans to organize a festival in Turkey, which is expected to boost the number of Indian tourists to the country. The festival will highlight the strong ties between the two countries, the ambassador said, and noted that Indians living in India or anywhere else in the world will prefer Turkey more and more as a destination. He also strongly emphasized that the festival will contribute immensely to commercial and tourism ties between Turkey and India. Ambassador Bhattacharyya highlighted that bilateral relations between Turkey and India are getting stronger and that the embassy tries to improve ties in all aspects.

To improve economic and cultural relations between the two countries, an Indian festival will be organized in various tourism destinations in Turkey, the ambassador said, emphasizing that tourism is an important for developing and strengthening ties. Shooting some Indian movies in Turkey, the ambassador added, has boosted the interest of Indians in the country. Thus, festival venues will be in Ankara, Istanbul and Cappadocia. After negotiating with the Culture and Tourism Ministry, more tourist destinations will be added, according to the ambassador.

Bhattacharyya drew attention to the rising number of Indian tourists visiting Turkey and stressed that the increase has been facilitated by Turkish Airlines (THY) flights to Mumbai and New Delhi.
Indians consider Antalya the capital of tourism

Ambassador Bhattacharyya said that tourism facilities on the Mediterranean coast that hosted a number of splendid Indian weddings would see continually rising demand. "For wedding events, Indians consider Antalya the capital of tourism. Indians have extended families, and when all the relatives and friends of the couples want to attend a wedding abroad, they need hotels with large capacities. Therefore, facilities in Antalya meet this need.

Turkey is becoming more and more popular in India with around 200,000 tourists visiting the country. "The friendly Turkish-Indian ties continue to improve in political, economic and cultural terms. Tourism relations between the two countries are very promising for the future and the number of Indians who want to discover Turkey is growing," Bhattacharyya said.

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