Turkey eyes '70 million tourists with $70 billion revenue'

Turkish Culture and Tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced the “70 million tourist with $70 billion revenue” program to meet the 2023 target. 

The ministry launched new regulations and strategies to increase visitor number and revenue from tourism of Turkey.

Ersoy said the ministry is working to end the 'season' concept in tourism. Vocational schools for tourism and hospitality sector will be active and effective year around. The concept of 'seasonal tourism' is ending, employees will work year around.

The government will fund the films, which are shot in Turkey, displayed abroad and help the country advertisement, to extend 30 percent its cost of shooting in the country. However, the scenario should be approved by the ministry to check it's helping the country advertisement.

Ersoy said the ministry is working to end the 'season' concept in tourism. Vocational schools for tourism and hospitality sector will be active and effective throughout the year. With 'seasonal tourism' ending, employees will work year-round.

Use of the artificial intelligence(AI) and new technologies will start to pique the interest of tourists.

 “We will determine visitors’ spending habits, interests, what they like, the countries of choice, and promote these accordingly," Ersoy said. "We will promote tourism based on demand, not supply. We will prepare large scale projects introducing Turkey from the east to the west.”

Muzekart (MuseumCard) will help very serious protection for guests and they will also be able to use this card to make exclusive visits in the coming period. This card will be at the forefront of the country tourism campaign.

Turkish officials brought back home 5 thousand works of art from abroad and currently in the process going after 2 thousand more. 

Ersoy said, these should have never left the country, we must nationalise excavation sites and raise awareness about this issue. The world must not stay silent to this type of theft, he added.

Ibrahim Halil Kalay, member of board of the Tourism Ministry and Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB), told TRT World  that Turkey hosted almost 40 million tourists in 2018, an increase of 22 percent compared to 2017.

"We have enough capacity to host 100 million tourists right now," Kalay said, adding that the efforts are being made to attract tourists with high spending power from China, Japan, India and South Korea.

“We have started to represent our country at every expo with large and comprehensive stands, with TURSAB,” Kalay said.

Turkey’s unique cultural tourism 

Erdal Ceri, vice president of TURSAB specialised on cultural tourism, said cultural tourism is the branch of tourism that will be the least affected during a crisis.

“Thermal, health and other types of tourism can improve quickly with investments, but cultural tourism is unique,” Ceri said. "This is the type of tourism that you can promote and sell easily."

According to Ceri, Gobekli Tepe, the oldest temple of the world, is a place of great historic and archeological value, and has the potential to attract large numbers of tourists.

Turkey is home to hundreds of ancient sites, and is known for its natural beauty. Cappadocia and Pamukkale are already known famous world over, Ceri said, “so we have to introduce other places which are just as beautiful and historic as these sites to the rest of the world.” 

Ceri said Turkey is a no-brainer for tourists who want to explore the monuments of ancient and Islamic civilisations. 

“Recently, social media has made an undeniable contribution to the promotion of the country's assets,” Ceri said.