The 6th Interdisciplinary Tourism Research Conference to be held in Cappadocia, Turkey

Organised by the journal ANATOLIA, the 6th Interdisciplinary Tourism Research Conference will take place 2 - 7 October 2018 in Cappadocia, Turkey. 

The conference aims particularly to emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of tourism, hospitality and leisure research and attracts submissions in two categories: First, it encourages those faculty members and/or graduate students studying in other fields, but have research interests on tourism. Second, for those contributors with a background in tourism, the paper should be written by at least two multiple authors and each author represents a different discipline.

Invited speakers 

The list of our guest speakers is diverse in their affiliations, gender, and fields of expertise:

• Tej Vir Singh, Centre for Tourism Research & Development, India 
• Haiyan Song, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, SAR China
• Marion Joppe, University of Guelph, Canada
• Chris Cooper, Leeds Beckett University, UK

Tej Vir Singh Recognition Award 

This year’s award is dedicated to Professor Tej Vir Singh of the Centre for Tourism Research & Development, India, in recognition of his lifelong contribution and social role played to the institutionalisation of tourism studies, both nationally and internationally, from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Pre-conference seminars: 

• Antonia Correia – University of Algarve & Universidade Europeia, Portugal
• Maheshvari Naidu – University of KwaZulu–Natal, South Africa
• Ana Isabel Rodrigues – Polytechnic Institute of Beja, Portugal
• Husseini Olya – Oxford Brookes University, UK 

For more information about the conference, visit anatoliajournal.com/interdisciplinary


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Turkey is in the Top 10 in the Inbound Tourism Markets for Bulgaria

Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelova talked on the phone with Turkey's new Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Ersoy, the press center of the ministry announced. Turkey is in the top 10 in the incoming tourism markets for Bulgaria, Minister Angelkova stressed and congratulated her colleague on taking up the post. 

She added that over the period January-May this year, more than 264,000 Turkish citizens visited the country, recording a 9.1% increase over the same period in 2017. Last year tourist visits from Turkey were more than 636,000 and there was an increase of 12.5%. And for the last five years Turkish tourists who have visited Bulgaria have doubled, the minister informed. 

The development of so-called The Balkan Route was one of the topics that the two Ministers discussed. They have united the view that this product will be of great benefit to attracting tourists from distant destinations in both countries. 

Minister Angelkova stressed that it is crucial to have an individual service to meet the needs of visitors from remote countries such as China and Japan, adding that it will build on the tourism products offered in Bulgaria and Turkey. She recalled that its creation was proposed and supported at the EU Tourism Ministers' High Level Tourism and Economic Growth Summit, organized under the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. 

Minister Angelkova invited her Turkish counterpart to join the second International Congress of World Civilizations and Historical Routes. It is organized under the auspices of the World Tourism Organization and will take place in the period 14-16 November in Sofia. 

Minister Mehmet Ersoy commented that he would rely on the two neighboring countries to continue their fruitful cooperation in tourism. He added that he would support and assist in organizing any initiatives that would contribute to the successful development of the sector. 

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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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