Indian color fest to be held in Istanbul, Ankara

Holi, also known as the festival of colors, will be held in Ankara and Istanbul this year, Indian Ambassador to Turkey Sanjay Bhattacharyya has said.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) following an Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) event in Ankara, Bhattacharyya praised the bonds of brotherhood and friendship between Turkey and India.

"Holi, the festival of colors, marks the advent of spring and the Indian new year. It is a time for all Indians, irrespective of race, religion or language, to come together to celebrate through song and dance and merriment," Bhattacharyya said.

He said younger people have more fun during the festival but everyone is welcome to take part in this joyous event. "We are collaborating with a Turkish group to celebrate Holi in Istanbul and shall also have Holi in Ankara, but a few weeks later, when the sun is warmer," the ambassador said.

He added that cultural relations between Turkey and India have grown in recent years. "Today, we do business, travel to each other's countries, eat food together and share stories of our achievements. This strengthens our friendship. We even have weddings in Antalya or Goa, a mark of the close affinity that has grown between us," he said.

Bhattacharyya said the Indian Embassy is preparing to host a cultural festival named "India by the Bosphorus" in four different Turkish cities. "Featuring the diversity of our cultural forms, the festival will build new bridges to connect our peoples closer together. Like the festival of Holi, ‘India by the Bosphorus' will bring joy and happiness to all," he added.

The ICCR is an autonomous Indian organization that actively participates in the formulation and implementation of policies and programs pertaining to India's external relations, fostering and strengthening cultural relations and people, and developing relationships between nations.

It was found by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of independent India, in 1950.

The arrivals of Indian tourists in Turkey significantly increased in 2018, skyrocketing by 80 percent compared to the previous year, Bhattacharyya has said. According to the Culture and Tourism Ministry, around 147,127 Indian tourists visited Turkey last year, up from 86,996 in 2017 and 79,316 in 2016.

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Why terrorism in Turkey will not have an effect on its tourism market

According to Trading Economics, the number of inbound tourists to Turkey rose to 1.95 million in December 2018, up by 14.5% from the year before, with the majority of tourists being from Bulgaria, Germany, Georgia, Iran and Russia.

Although Turkey welcomes millions of tourists each year, it is also one of the countries that suffer most from terrorist attacks. According to public sector information website gov.uk, there is a high risk of terrorism taking place in Turkey due to the high number of terrorist organisations.

Many terrorist attacks have taken place in Turkey over the past years, such as the attack in the Reina nightclub in Istanbul on 1 January 2017, the explosion close to the Besiktas football stadium in Istanbul on 10 December 2016, the bomb detonation close to the Governor’s office in Adana on 24 November 2016 and the attack at Ataturk International Airport on 28 June 2016.

These four are only a few examples of attacks that took place in the country; there are many other examples of terrorist incidents. Because Turkey can be seen as a high-risk destination, many are stating that tourist arrival numbers have dropped significantly.

According to Statista, the number of foreign tourist arrivals to Turkey in 2015 was 36,245 and then in 2016, this number significantly dropped down to 25,352. In 2017, tourist arrivals increased again, up to 32,410.

Following this, according to Turkish pro-government daily newspaper Daily Sabah, in the first few months of 2018, almost 7.8 million foreigners travelled to Turkey, and the Culture and Tourism Ministry stated that the arrivals number increased by 32.55% each year. With these statistics, it is clear that tourism can be unpredictable, with constantly changing figures.

My research

Many suggest that terrorism is the main factor that affects Turkey’s tourism market. However, through the research that I conducted throughout my final year of university, I established that there are many other factors at play and that ultimately terrorism has not, and will not, have a long-term effect on Turkey’s tourism market.

The aim of my research was to establish the extent that terrorism has affected the destination image of Turkey. I produced an online questionnaire to identify tourists’ risk perceptions and their views on destination image. With this, I came to the conclusion that whether or not the image of Turkey is affected by terrorism really depends on tourists’ risk perceptions and the level of willingness to take the risk. The destination image is complex and depends on each individual’s views on risk in terms of safety and security.

However, I found that terrorism has not really affected the image of Turkey. This is because there are more positive images associated with Turkey like weather, sun and sea, food and culture, rather than the negative factors like violence and terrorism.

The reason why I argue that terrorism has not actually affected Turkey’s tourism market is that although terrorist attacks do in fact cause tourists to avoid visiting the country in the short term, people tend to forget and move on, so, tourism always maintains its growth and is not affected in the long-term.

Although tourism is a very vulnerable industry when exposed to terrorism, it is also such a strong and powerful industry that can, after some time, recover from terrorist attacks. The media tends to dramatise negative events; however, after a while, the media turns its attention away from older events to report up-to-date news (taking into account that there are events taking place every single day in the world) and the negativity around the original issue lessens.

Overall, due to the fact that tourism is such a strong and large sector, it will always recover from terrorism; terrorism will never overpower the tourism industry of Turkey due to the potential that its tourism market has. There are several unique and positive attributes of Turkey that attract tourists, and the positive factors overshadow offputting incidents like terrorism.

This is why I strongly believe and hope that tourism will continue to grow in Turkey and will never be permanently affected by terrorism.

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How Cihangir cool changed Istanbul - Pamuk

The streets of Istanbul, largely empty in the wake of several terrorist attacks and the failed coup of 2016, now throng with life again, Turkish Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk said in The Telegraph.

“In spite of the political situation, the city has managed to rediscover its colours and crowds,” Pamuk wrote in the U.K. newspaper on Monday . “The Cihangir-Çukurcuma neighbourhoods where I have lived for the past 20 years are gradually coming to life. I’m pleased with these developments; it is gratifying to find that even in these dark days people from all over the world are still interested in you.”

In the 1950s, no tourist would ever visit these neighborhoods, which were predominantly Greek until the city’s Greeks were driven out in the 1960s. Back then, a local who wanted meze or a book would have to walk up to Taksim or Istiklal, recalled Pamuk.

“Today, these same streets are full of meze bars, bookshops, antiques stores, art galleries, coffee shops, design stores, junk dealers, and a proliferation of restaurants and tourists,” he wrote.

He grew up in Nişantaşı, a wealthy district near Taksim, which he hardly visits since moving to Cihangir in 1994. “When I moved there in the 90's, you could still see transvestites and sex workers out in the afternoons, doing their grocery shopping,” said Pamuk. “Then, at the start of the 2000s, the character of Cihangir was suddenly transformed.”

Publishers previously based in the old city centre, on the far side of the Golden Horn, moved to Beyoğlu, according to Pamuk. Then the advertising studios, wine shops, second-hand bookstores and cafés started appearing.

Western businesspeople, diplomats, and foreign correspondents had already begun to move to the neighbourhood, renting top-floor flats with extraordinary views of Topkapı Palace, the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and the Bosporus.

“At the same time a section of Istanbul’s wealthy classes realised that nowhere else would they find a more magnificent vista of the old city and of the mouth of the Bosporus, so they too moved to Cihangir,” said Pamuk.

“All this fostered the development of a relatively tolerant culture in Cihangir, diverging from the more conservative norm, in which you could have a drink outside, and buy newspapers from all over the world. For the first time in the city’s history, in keeping with this changing culture, ‘green’ restaurants appeared, fish restaurants weren’t just confined to the waterfront, cafés began serving brunch on Sundays, bars came in different types, and restaurants served modernised versions of traditional dishes, accompanying them with alcohol,” he explained.

Tiny fish restaurants popped up in narrow alleys, serving four or five tables at most. Pamuk could call in the evening and they would send over their catch of the day, grilled and with a salad on the side, he said.

“But what makes Cihangir so fascinating to me, and such a paradise for endless walks and window shopping, is the rapid transformation and expansion that Cukurcuma’s small, shabby, dirty flea market experienced in the early 2000s,” wrote Pamuk. Shops that used to sell old mattresses, broken chairs, and used jeans now offer vintage clothing and humble antiques, with an enormous selection of old photographs and ephemera.

Cihangir is situated halfway down an avenue that was meant to link Taksim to a ferry pier on the Golden Horn, but that avenue was never built, so Cihangir became a quiet place, insulated from the din of the city.

Pamuk spent a lot of time walking around the area while researching his books, and heard that silence. He recalls one spot, at the top of a stairway on a slope lined with dozing stray cats, that offered an exceptional view over the Bosporus, the Maiden’s Tower, and the Uskudar neighbourhood on the city’s Asian side.  

“I would sit at a table under one of the tall trees near the Firuz Ağa Mosque, outside a café or a flatbread shop, and quietly read my newspaper and write in my notebook,” said Pamuk. “It cheered me to see so many familiar faces around me from literary, artistic, and political circles, and to know that most of them were freedom-loving people critical of the government and sympathetic to Europe. It made me feel proud of being from Cihangir.”

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Turkey's tourism capital Antalya boasts 41 direct flights to 13 countries

National flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) will schedule 41 direct flights to 13 countries from Turkey's holiday resort city of Antalya, with the intent of continuing flights in the winter season as well. The announcement came during the Mediterranean Touristic Operators Association's (AKTOB) February meeting, attended by Antalya Governor Münir Karaloğlu, THY Assistant General Manager in charge of Marketing and Sales Ahmet Olmuştur, AKTOB Chairman Erkan Yağcı and tourism professionals. In his address, THY's Olmuştur said Antalya is above world standards in terms of infrastructure and service quality, noting they added new destinations to existing direct flight points.

"As THY, we will schedule 41 flights per week to 13 international destinations. We are in talks to put an additional flight for a point in Azerbaijan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia," he said. "In the past, Antalya had a structure that attracted tourists from Western Europe in general. We think that high-income tourists from the Gulf countries and the Middle East can come to Antalya as well."

He further explained that they will schedule three flights per week to Jordan's capital Amman as of June 3, adding they conduct marketing activities in 120 countries and plan to put two flights on the Berlin-Antalya line along with five weekly flights to Kuwait.

Stressing that London is one of the cities sending the largest number of visitors to Turkey, Olmuştur said they want to increase the number of flights on this line from two to five in this regard.

"We used to fly in the summer and cease our flights, except for Russia, in the winter. This time we will not do so but continue our flights with your support in the winter, not to all our points, but to Russia, Moscow, Germany, Berlin, Luxembourg, and Jeddah. Tel Aviv is a rising market," he noted. "Our charter flights are also important. Last year, we scheduled 4,135 charter flights from 33 international destinations, carrying 780,000 passengers. This year we will put a 16 percent capacity increase to this figure. We plan to bring around 900,000 passengers with charter flights." Founded in 1933, THY currently flies to over 300 destinations in more than 120 countries, holding the title of the airline that flies to the most countries in the world. The airline carried 75.2 million passengers last year, a 10 percent year-on-year increase. The company previously said the total number of passengers carried this year is set to reach 80 million.

On the other hand, Antalya Governor Karaloğlu said it is important for the sector to continue with a new perspective, pointing to the significance of THY's new vision for Antalya. "Turkish Airlines is making an important start this year. It is up to us to make this permanent," he said, underlining that they have great expectations for this year with hopes to reach new records.

AKTOB Chairman Yağcı recalled that the vision for the future was important, stressing that they want to raise the income generated from tourism, Yağcı added the number of tourists will increase with THY's direct flights. Turkey saw a double-digit increase in the number of foreign arrivals last year, welcoming 39.5 million foreign visitors, a 21.84 percent increase year-on-year, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry data. On the other hand, the country's tourism income surged 12.3 percent to $29.5 billion, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

The total number of tourists that visited Turkey last year reached 46.1 million, out of which 6.6 million were Turkish citizens residing abroad. The figure corresponded to an 18.1 percent hike from the previous year.

Antalya was the second top destination, after Istanbul with 13.4 million tourists, and welcomed 12.4 million foreign visitors in 2018.

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Turkey tops 33 European countries in tourism growth

Turkey was the top performing tourist destination in 2018 and recorded the highest growth in the number of tourists among 33 European countries. According to the European Travel Commission's (ETC) "European Tourism in 2018: Trends & Prospects" report, the number of tourists visiting Turkey last year hit an all-time high and increased by 22 percent year-on-year. The report added that the number of tourists visiting the country exceeded 40 million for the first time and totaled 47 million in 2018.

The ETC highlighted that Turkey recovered quickly from the effects of the July 15, 2016, coup attempt. It added that the country saw a significant increase in the arrivals, particularly from Russia. Accordingly, the number of Russians visiting Turkey was 1.7 million higher than prior peak levels. Some 6.4 million Russian tourists visited Turkey in 2018.

The report also noted that hotels have been able to increase average room rates (ADR) in both Turkish lira and euro terms – in the month of December as well as in 2018 as a whole and that Turkey remains amongst the cheapest destinations within the accommodation dataset.

"The reversion to norms in terms of market share of Mediterranean destinations outlined in the last quarterly report appears to be continuing, with Turkey continuing to regain market share," it said.

The report added that Turkey saw growth in arrivals from Germany of 25.6 percent over January to November 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. Turkey is expecting record German arrivals in 2019.

On the other hand, British tourists have also flocked back to Turkey with the Turkish lira declining in value more than sterling. Arrivals were up 36.5 percent in the period January to November compared to the same months in 2017, the report noted.

"Growth of U.S. arrivals in Turkey was also very strong at 32.0 percent based on data to November," it said. Among others, Turkey continued to benefit from China's announcement of 2018 as "Turkey Tourism Year," with arrivals up by 67.1 percent on a year earlier. "As with most non-European source markets, there was strong growth of 74.4 percent in the number of Indian tourists visiting in Turkey. Turkey has been targeting the Indian wedding tourism market in particular," the report noted.

The ETC said that despite Europe's economic growth prospects faltering in recent months travel growth too, from, and within the region was robust in 2018, according to the latest available data. Thirty-two of 33 reporting destinations welcomed more arrivals and/or overnights compared to a year ago. Only the U.K. reported declines.

It highlighted that European tourism demand remained on solid footing with a 6 percent upswing in international tourist arrivals in 2018 over the year prior. "The most visited region in the world was able to sustain growth despite downside risks stemming from trade tensions, uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the economic slowdown in the Euro Area and China, all keeping 2019 growth prospects in question," it said. Virtually all reporting destinations (32 out of 33) registered some form of expansion, ETC said.

Following Turkey, Serbia and Malta were the countries registering the highest increase in the number of tourists in 2018, both with 15 percent. They were followed by Montenegro with 14 percent and Latvia, which was the only Central/Eastern European destination that enjoyed double-digit expansion, at 10 percent. "The U.K. [-5.3 percent] was the only market in negative territory," the report noted.

Among others, travel demand from the U.S. remained on firm footing. Growth from this market was fueled by a strengthened U.S. dollar against the euro and sterling, both increasing Europe's affordability as a tourism destination.

"In 2018 European destinations welcomed around 33 million international tourist arrivals from this market, up 8 percent from the previous year. The U.S. outbound travel, however, is expected to slow down owing to its decelerating economic momentum and consumer spending," the report read.

ETC said expansion continues in the eurozone, however, adverse risks such as tensions in financial markets, uncertainty surrounding the U.K.'s divorce plans from the EU and worrisome forward-looking indicators bear on growth prospects for 2019.

"Notwithstanding, the European tourism industry has yet again proved resilient in 2018 and accounts for over half [51 percent] of worldwide tourist arrivals. Looking ahead, growth in international tourist arrivals to the region is expected to hover around 3 percent in 2019," it added.

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Turkey's tourism income totals $29.5B in 2018

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA 

Turkey's tourism income totaled $29.5 billion in 2018, the country's statistical authority announced on Thursday. 

The annual tourism revenue surged 12.3 percent last year, up from $26.3 billion in the previous year, TurkStat reported.

"While 81.8 percent of this income [excluding GSM roaming and marina service expenditures] was obtained from foreign visitors, 18.2 percent was obtained from citizens resident abroad," TurkStat said.

"In this year, while individual expenditures constituted $22.5 billion of the total tourism income, $6.9 billion of tourism income was obtained by package tour expenditures," it said.

Turkey welcomed 45.6 million visitors in 2018, marking a 18.1 percent hike from the previous year -- 85.4 percent foreign and 14.6 percent representing Turkish citizens residing abroad.

According to the official data, average expenditure per capita was $647 in 2018, as foreigners spent $617 per capita and Turkish citizens spent $801 per capita.

TurkStat said visitors spent most for food and beverage in 2018 -- foreigners with around $4.38 billion and Turkish visitors with $1.55 billion.

Foreigners spent some $2.7 billion on clothes and shoes, and $966 million on souvenirs in addition to nearly $77 million on carpets and rugs. 

The primary visiting purpose of foreigners was "travel, entertainment, sports and cultural activities" with 60.5 percent, as their top accommodation choice was hotel/motel/pension with over 36 million overnights.

The primary travel reason of Turkish visitors residing abroad was “visiting relatives and friends” with 50.4 percent, while they mostly preferred private houses during their trips in Turkey with more than 17 million overnights.

Official figures also showed that the country's tourism expenditure -- which is the expenditure of the Turkish citizens resident in Turkey and visited abroad -- fell to some $4.9 billion last year, declining by 4.7 percent on a yearly basis.  

"In 2018, number of Turkish citizens visited abroad decreased by 5.7 percent compared to previous year and reached 8.38 million.

"Average expenditure was $584 per capita," the institute said.

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Iran, Turkey to cooperate in tourism industry

By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

Iran and Turkey will cooperate in tourism industry. This is provided for by the relevant document signed between the head of the Trade Union of the Chiefs of Offices of Iranian passenger services and tourism, Hormatullah Raffia and the head of the Association of Travel Agencies of Turkey (Tursab), Firuz Baglykaya.

Each year, eight million tourists travel from Turkey and Iran to overseas, Trend reports.

So, about 60 percent of eight million Iranian tourists go to Turkey and Iraq. About 320,000 tourists come to Iran from Turkey,” Raffia said.

The head of the union said that Iran intends to reach a balance with Turkey in the movement of tourist flow.

At the signing ceremony, the head of Tursab Firuz Baglykaya said that there is no balance between the two countries in the tourism sector. For creation of it there is work to do.

Baglykaya stated that the tourism potential of Turkey will be presented at the Tehran Tourism Exhibition.

In addition, the head of Tursab expressed confidence that the signing of the agreement will lead to an increase in tourist flow to Iran and Turkey.

So, from economic point of view Turkey has more actual resources to promote tourism and keep its advantage over the Iran in tourist flow. There are several reasons of this noticeable gap between the number of tourist visiting both of the countries, but main reason is well-established tourism oriented policy of Turkey, which allows to realize whole existing potential of the country and develop this sector by extensive and intensive ways.

There are plenty of  reforms, which have been implemented in the Iran towards  simplification of the procedure for obtaining entry visas, in particular, the practice of issuing 30-day visas directly to Iranian airports for citizens of 180 countries has been introduced, and an online hotel booking system for Iran operates. Visas can now be obtained electronically from Iranian consulates or international airports.

Additionally, taking into account that Iran is the center of Shiite Islam - is one of the main centers of Muslim pilgrimage, so religious tourism is very developed and the most important place from this point of view is the city of Mashhad which attracts a huge number of Iranian and foreign tourists (a total of more than 4 million people a year).

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Tourists Flocking to Turkey as Turkish Lira Drops

For simple and easy online Turkey visa application  , do apply here for Turkish Visa

Boosting tourism: Turkey eyes Chennai, other metro cities

Chennai: Turkish Tourism, which has been participating in few important trade exhibitions since the last couple of years, has planned to rev up its tourism campaign in India targeting mainly the wedding and MICE segments. Turkey will come to woo Chennai and other important metros starting this month.
Turkey is home to the iconic Hagia Sophia, with its soaring dome and Christian mosaics, the massive 17th century Blue Mosque and the circa-1460 Topkap? Palace, former home of sultans are other attractions. Turkish Tourism hopes to have its share of the tourism pie as Indians from Chennai and other cities have been evincing interest in exploring new overseas destinations abroad, while also showing a tendency to loosen their purse strings while holidaying abroad.
Around 15 big Indian weddings have been confirmed in 2018. “Our focus is to showcase Turkey beyond Istanbul. The messaging would be to look beyond Istanbul,” Mr. H. Deniz Ersoz, Culture & Tourism Counsellor, Embassy of Republic of Turkey in India, said.
About 90 percent of the hotels on the Mediterranean coast work on all-inclusive packages. This is yet not known in the Indian market. Therefore, efforts would be to make this messaging spread across all trade hubs in India.
This month will see Turkish Tourism commence joint promotional campaigns with leading tour companies in the country, to tap the weddings market, corporates and MICE. The campaign will cover Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and few tier-II cities.
Foreign tourist arrivals in the first six months of 2018 increased by 30 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching around 16 million, as per official statistics. Tourism revenue in the first six months of this year rose from US$ 8.7 billion to US$ 11.4 billion.
India inbound to Turkey grew 100 percent between January and June this year, compared to the corresponding period last year. Turkey has targeted two lakh Indian visitors this year. The maximum number of Indian visitors to Turkey was in 2015 and it stood at 1.32 lakhs. Mr. Ersoz had meetings with Union Tourism Ministry officials in India, on reviving the mechanism to explore scope of mutual cooperation in tourism. Turkey is also exploring a JWG meeting in Istanbul in October- November this year.


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Turkey sees 25 percent rise in foreign visitors in first seven months of year: Tourism ministry

The number of foreigners visiting Turkey in the first seven months of 2018 increased by nearly 25 percent, compared to the same period last year, data from the Culture and Tourism Ministry showed on Aug. 29. 

More than 21.6 million foreign visitors arrived in Turkey from January to July, compared to 17.3 million in the first seven months of 2017, according to the ministry data.

Russians accounted for over 15 percent or 3.3 million visitors of total visitors in the first seven months of the year, followed by Germans with around 11 percent, or 2.3 million, and Iranians with 6 percent, or 1.3 million visitors. 

Iran was followed by Georgia and the United Kingdom. 

Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city by population and one of its top tourist draws, and the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya recorded the greatest number of foreign arrivals, 7.5 million and 6.7 million respectively. 

The month of July saw arrival of 5.7 million foreigners by an 11.7 percent year-on-year rise.

The number of foreign arrivals into Turkey regressed to 25.4 million in 2016 due to an escalation in security concerns and a diplomatic crisis with Russia. Last year, Turkey’s tourism sector witnessed a strong rebound as bilateral ties with Russia normalized and security worries eased, with 32.4 million foreigners visiting Turkey. 

A report from the Hotels Association of Turkey (TÜROB) showed that hotels enjoyed significant increases in occupancy rates in the first seven months of the year, driven by the rise in foreign arrivals. 

Hotel occupancy rates across Turkey rose 15.7 percent year-on-year to 64.8 percent and average daily revenue (ADR) rose to 69 euros by a 25.2 percent yearly increase in the mentioned period, according to STR Global data, which was announced by TÜROB on Aug. 29. 

Thus, Turkey reached the highest increase in terms of both hotel occupancy rates and ADR among all European destinations in the January-July period, TÜROB said. 

Hotel occupancy rates saw a 7.1 percent yearly increase and hit 74.9 percent in July, with ADR increasing to 87.8 euros by a nearly 12 percent yearly increase, STR Global data also showed. 

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Luxury facilities, seasonal advantages boost Turkey's future in sports tourism

Turkey is eyeing a bigger share in sports tourism with the addition of athlete-friendly luxury facilities with this tourism branch growing across the globe. While the interest of countries in many sports such as football, basketball, golf and tennis vary by their potential, billions of dollars are spent in the sector every year worldwide. The volume of sports tourism in the world has reached $200 billion, according to Sports Tourism Association Chairman Recep Şamil Yaşacan, who said Turkey has received only a small piece of the $1 billion pie. Turkey has seen an increase in occupancy rates, not only due to a recovery in the number of incoming visitors, but also thanks to the various sports events it has hosted in recent years. 

For instance, with international professional tennis tournaments organized in the country's holiday resort Antalya over the last 10 years, the city is now preferred by some 20,000 professionals each year as well as senior tennis players, boosting the region's foreign exchange influx, according to Turkey Tennis Federation Chairman Cengiz Durmuş, who said around 40,000 athletes, mostly tennis players, visit the city annually. 

Often called Turkey's tourism capital, Antalya has become a center for international sports clubs in the last five years thanks to investments made in new facilities and infrastructure, and continues to receive reservations, though it is aiming for a bigger slice of the sports tourism pie, according to Antalya Governor Münir Karaloğlu. 

Due to the favorable climatic conditions, infrastructure and location, Antalya is the most preferred destination among clubs. 

Sports tourism is a very important sector for Antalya, according to the city's governor. "Antalya attracts a big share, especially during the clubs' winter camps. There was a bit of hesitance last year, but this year many teams from the Middle East, Russia and Europe will hold their camps in Antalya. There have been a substantial amount of reservations already. This means that the winter months will be better than last year. However, Antalya has to attract a bigger share of sports tourism. We have opportunities; we have facilities; our hotels are high quality; we have football fields and tennis courts as well as golf courses. The golf courses in Antalya are world class. The Turkish Airlines Open tournament ended last week. We organized the Antalya Open for the first time last year and this year, we will organize the second," Karaloğlu explained. 

Contrary to the widespread idea that football ranks first in sports tourism, Yaşacan noted that it actually ranks second after golf. 

He also emphasized tourists coming for sports tourism spend much more than other tourists. "Tourists coming for holidays spend around $500-$600 during their stay in the country, while sports tourists spend around $2,000." 

FACILITIES WELL EQUIPPED 

TO HOST BIG EVENTS 

When asked whether Turkey is on the route of foreign sports teams, Yaşacan said: "Of course it is. The highest demand comes from the Commonwealth of Independent States [Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan], the second highest comes from the Balkan countries, and the third comes from Central and Northern European countries." 

He remarked that compared to 2017, a 30 percent increase is expected this year in sports tourism. "Sports tourism in 2017 was $600 million. As for this year, it is expected to be around $1 billion. We hope to approach the figures of 2015, which was the best year." 

Speaking of the deficiencies in sports tourism, Yaşacan said there was a need for bigger government support and that further investments should be made in new facilities. 

When asked whether Turkey has a sufficient infrastructure to handle big organizations such as the World Cup, Yaşacan said: "The infrastructure for any sports event is basically ready in terms of climate, facility, accommodation and logistics. Investments would need to be made to support some places where there is a lack of facilities." 

On the other hand, Durmuş said he does not think Turkey lacks facilities. 

"I think we should do something about the sense of perception. It's necessary to explain that Antalya is the city with the best climate, location and numerous courts. Promotion should be made in this direction. It may also contribute to the promotion of our country by bringing world-renowned athletes such as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to the ATP 250 Antalya Open Tournament. Encouraging four or five year-round international tennis academies to open branches in Antalya and bring sports and tennis players from all over the world for both sports and education will make our country a sports center. New courts should be built and the quality of the existing courts should be increased," Durmuş explained. 

TENNIS COULD BRING IN 

$1.2 BILLION ANNUALLY 

Hotels in Antalya have made massive investments to promote sports tourism, according to Durmuş, who also noted the world-class golf and football fields. 

"The turf tennis courts made for the ATP 250 Turkish Airlines Open are some of the best turf

Tennis courts in the world, despite being a first for our country. Apart from this, the Istanbul Cup and the Istanbul Open tournaments have made very significant contributions to the promotion of Istanbul. In particular, the year when Federer came and the year when Turkish national tennis player Çağla Büyükakçay won the championship were unforgettable years for us," he said. 

He also explained that 100 international tournaments are held in Antalya each year, indicating that Turkey is one of the countries that organizes the highest number of professional tournaments. 

"Antalya is the city with highest number of courts in the world. There are nearly 2,000 tennis courts in the city," Durmuş added. 

When you consider the fact that tennis can be played at least 40 weeks out of the year in Antalya thanks to the region's mild climate, there could be 1.2 million tennis customers annually, according to the Turkey Tennis Federation chairman, who also pointed out that tennis-related visitors generally spend more; so, 1.2 million people would average $1,000 per week in spending, including their plane tickets. 

"By just creating a good tennis city, an average of $1.2 billion in sports tourism could be provided from tennis tourism," Durmuş noted. 

The contribution of sports tourism is much higher than the financial contribution for Turkey's promotion to the world, according to the Sports Tourism Association chairman 

"The athletes' social media sharing and teams coming in during the early booking period have made big contributions to the promotion. In winter, indoor facilities in the Antalya region are kept open for sports camps. Tournaments in Antalya are broadcast live around the world. The mountains available for skiing in the summer season enables accommodation facilities to stay open for business the entire year. This means 12 months of employment. As a result, sports tourism raises the brand value of our country." 

He stressed that incoming foreign teams from every category play friendly matches with professional and amateur teams in the country, adding that these matches also make contributions to the Turkish teams, who have an opportunity to analyze the tactics and strategies of the incoming teams and to see their own strengths. 

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Turkey's world-class diving centers a magnet for tourists

People from all over the world are coming to Turkey to enjoy some of the world's best free diving centers and unique underwater activities.

Turkey became a leading nation in sea tourism after it established state-of-the-art scuba diving centers and hundreds of diving facilities over the last few years.The 254 diving centers in the country offer water sports to both tourists and locals, with 83 in the Mediterranean Sea region alone.

Kaş, Kemer, Çanakkale, Fethiye, Ayvalık, Antalya, Mersin and Bodrum are the most popular diving spots. Besides the diving centers, interest in Lake Van is also increasing daily.

Turkish Underwater Sports Federation (TSSF) President Şahin Özen told the Anadolu Agency (AA) that diving centers were playing an important role in boosting tourism.

"In the summer, tourists, diving enthusiasts and many people from different parts of the world come here to see our diving centers and the colorful underwater habitats. The interest grows every year," he said.

Özen added: "We have 254 active diving centers on our seaside and inland waters with hundreds of hard-working diving instructors and guides. Our instructors are very experienced and safe for dive training and offer international experience."

Turkey also has diving opportunities for disabled visitors with 52 specially trained instructors, Özen added.

The Kaş underwater activities center, established by the World Underwater Federation (CMAS) and the TSSF jointly, is considered one of the best in the world.

Özen said Kaş is a very popular destination for fans of underwater activities. "Kaş is home to some of the best free diving centers in the world and because of this, it hosts annual free diving championships. This year, athletes from 20 countries have entered their names to compete in the event.

"For the first time in the world, we hosted European and world free diving champions. Our emergency response system for the safety of diving athletes has been highly praised by the CMAS and other country's federations. In deep dives, in case of emergencies, we have a system that enables us to quickly raise the athletes by 1.5 meters through an emergency response button; we also have a special camera and guide cable system. We export this system to the world."

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Incirliin Cave proving popular among tourists in southwestern Turkey

The ancient Incirliin Cave located in southwestern Turkey's Muğla province continues to be a popular attraction for tourists.

The 345-meter-long cave, which is located in Milas district's Gökçeler Canyon and estimated to be around 8,000 years old, has been declared both a first degree archeological and natural site by Muğla's Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation Board.

Upon entering the cave, visitors are greeted by huge stalactites and stalagmites and enjoy cooler temperatures, which can reach as low as 17 degrees Celsius even on the hottest days. The cooler temperatures also make the cave a perfect habitat that bat colony said to have made its home there.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), District Governor of Milas Eren Arslan said the cave was first opened to visitors after lightening equipment and walkways were installed in 2016 to ensure visitors' safety.

Remarking that the region's beaches also make it a popular tourist destination, Arslan said both the cave and the canyon have a very different sort of tourism potential. The canyon is home to vibrant wildlife and various types of trees and other flora. Confident in the area's potential, Arslan said the spot is sure to grow with tourism businesses.

"Every year we get 20,000 local and foreign tourists. So far 7,000 tourists have visited in 2018. This number is increasing every year," he said.

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Turkey has a new government system and a new Tourism Minister

Turkey has officially switched to an executive presidency after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took the oath of office yesterday and announced the first cabinet under new presidential system.

Founder of Etstur Mehmet Ersoy becomes the new Tourism Minister of Turkey.

Born in Istanbul in 1968, Mehmet Ersoy, graduated from Istanbul German High School in 1987 and then moved to the business world by establishing Etstur in 1991 with Murat Ersoy, his twin brother. Starting their tour operator business from scratch, Mehmet Ersoy and his brother Murat Ersoy succeeded in taking Etstur to top in a short period while continuing to grow in the hotel management and tourism industries. Etsgroup operates a total of 13 five-star hotels with 12,000-bed capacity including a hotel chain of seven Voyage hotels, two Maxx Royal Resorts hotels in Bodrum and Antalya as well as Elexus Hotels & Resorts & Spa in Kemer and TRNC.

Etstur also hosts many brands under its roof; Didimtur; a travel agency serving for large masses, Jetset; a boutique travel agency preparing personal and luxury travel programs, Ucuzabilet.com; a web site selling affordable domestic and international flight tickets, Otelpuan.com, a web site featuring objective reviews of the guests about the properties, etstur.com/letsgo, online journal of Etstur covering articles and posts on travel trends and culture, Etsmice, a brand providing corporate traveling services, events, fairs etc.

In 2004, Etsgroup acquired 50 percent of the shares of Atlasjet, founded by Öger Holding, stepping into the aviation industry and it purchased all the shares of the airline in February 2006. Reaching a significant a position in the private airline business in a short period thanks to service-oriented rather than cost-based business mentality, the company moves forward under the name Atlasglobal due to an overhaul of its corporate identity in 2015.

Turkey’s new presidential governmental system has abolished the Prime Ministry and transferred all executive authority of the Prime Ministry office to the president, who will have sweeping powers, from appointing state officials to declaring state of emergency by presidential decrees, lacking considerable monitoring by parliament.

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Turkey elections: the latest updates

Turkish citizens heads to the polls on June 24 to elect the president and members of parliament. A new system for Turkish politics, an executive presidency, will also come into effect with #TurkeyElections.

Speaking to a Turkish TV channel at Istanbul’s new airport, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the number of ministries would be reduced to 16 under new presidential system after June 24.

“We will reduce the number of ministries to 16 under the presidential system,” he said.

Currently, Turkey has 21 ministries.

Under the proposed changes, the ministry for foreign affairs and ministry for European Union affairs would be merged. And the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs would be under the ministry of agriculture.

“Economic administration will be simplified,” said Erdogan.

“We will reduce the number of related ministries, which is six now, to three.”

The main opposition party’s presidential candidate Muharrem Ince held a big rally in the coastal province of Izmir on Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people attended the rally in the secularist Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) stronghold.

Ince said he would remove the state of emergency and send four million Syrians back to their country with a farewell ceremony, if he won the upcoming election.

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Turkish tourism breaks all records in the year 2018

Turkish tourism broke all records between January and March 2018, as, according to data from the local Tourism and Culture Ministry, arrivals of foreign visitors grew by 34.9% reaching 5.13 million.

This means that during Q1 2018, 1.3 million more tourists visited Turkey compared to the same period in 2017.

An impressive increase of 34.8% was recorded in the arrivals of foreign tourists in Turkey during March following a rise of 31.6% in February and of 38.5% in January.

It should be noted that Turkey separates foreign tourists from Turkish nationals that live abroad and visit Turkey on a yearly basis.

If the latter are included, then the increase reaches an even more impressive 50.5%.

The arrivals of foreign tourists in Turkey, along with the arrivals of Turks living abroad, reached 38 million in 2017.

The recovery of Turkish tourism in all of its major source markets in the first quarter is evident below:

Germany + 36.28%

Britain + 42%

France + 32.4%

Italy + 38.3%

Saudi Arabia + 37.2%

China + 98%

Russia + 67.8%

USA + 16.6%

Greece + 16.2%

Bulgaria + 16%

At the same time, tourism income in Turkey increased by 31.3% and reached to $4 billion 425 million 237 thousand, during the first quarter of 2018.

While 76.1% of this income (excluding GSM roaming and marina service expenditures) was obtained from foreign visitors, 23.9% was obtained from Turkish citizens that reside abroad.

Visitors organise their travel individually or with package tours.

While individual expenditures reached $3 billion 984 million 962 thousand of the total tourism income, $ 440 million 275 thousand of tourism income was obtained through package tour expenditures.

The average expenditure of visitors was $ 723 per capita with the average expenditure of foreigners at $ 682 per capita and the average expenditure of Turkish residents abroad at$ 869 per capita.

Number of departing visitors increased by 26.4%

In the same period, the number of departing visitors increased by 26.4% compared to same quarter of previous year and reached to 6 million 122 thousand 182 persons. While 80.2% of visitors were foreigners (4,908,831 people) 19.8% of them were Turkish citizens from abroad (1,213,351 people).

Tourism expenditure increased by 26.1% 

Tourism expenditure by Turkish citizens who travelled abroad, grew by 26.1% compared to same quarter of previous year and reached $ 1,079,008,000. From this, $ 842,27 million regarded individual expenditures and $ 236,73 million regarded package tour expenditures.

Number of Turkish citizens visited abroad increased by 9.1%

In Q1, the number of outbound Turkish citizens increased by 9.1% compared to same quarter of previous year and reached 2,070,534 people with an average expenditure of $ 521 per capita.

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Turkey makes strong comeback in this season

After having seen a decreasing demand from many Western and northern European markets, Turkey is back in fashion in summer season and has become the third most popular destination after Spain and Greece, Anglo-German travel and tourism company TUI has stated.

Italy and Cyprus continue to be in the top five, the TUI group said in a statement on June 20, noting that the preferred destinations are all in the Mediterranean.

TUI vacationers this year prefer to spend their summer holidays in Crete and the other top destinations are Majorca, Antalya, Rhodes and Larnaca in Cyprus, TUI said.

After two years of decline, Turkey has become especially popular among German, Austrian, Dutch, Swiss, Danish and Polish holidaymaker, according to TUI holiday atlas.

The most popular holiday regions of TUI holidaymakers from Germany are Majorca, Antalya, Crete, Rhodes and Kos. Greece is also very popular among Northern Europeans and Austria, according to the statement.

The British, Belgians and Dutch, on the other hand, mainly prefer Spain and the French want to spend their holidays in Greece and Italy, TUI said.

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