Building on opportunities to strengthen tourism from the region, a strong delegation of governmental officials from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Turkey and 20 prominent organizations representing Turkey's vibrant tourism sector are participating at ATM 2010, the Middle East’s premium event for travel and tourism trade.
Turkey’s participation follows considerable growth in its tourism sector during the past few years, particularly in the context of tourist arrivals from the GCC countries.
With dignitaries like the Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mr. Ertugrul Gunay inaugurating the stand, the ATM participation highlights many aspects of the tourism strategy of Turkey 2023, a focused plan that promotes specific themes, zones, corridors and cities to make the country a year round world-wide tourism destination. Visitors to the stand are given a glimpse into a collection of artistic works and special aspects of Turkish heritage and traditions.
"Despite global recessionary trends and difficult market conditions, the GCC and the greater Arab region continues to be one of our strongest markets, with demand for tourism services increasing by 30% year on year from this region. Our government is investing heavily into making Turkey's tourism sector even more appealing to our Arab patrons, and the success of these efforts is being reflected in the statistics of visitor numbers from the region," said Mr. Cumhur Güven Taşbaşi, Promotion Director, Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
By virtue of possessing a significant historical, cultural and a rich Islamic heritage, Turkey has positioned itself as a gateway to amazing possibilities. A million tourists from the Arab region visited Turkey in 2009 with growth from the GCC alone increasing by 16.45%. The country attracted nearly 9,000 Kuwaitis, 15,500 visitors from Saudi Arabia, and over 27,000 visitors from Morocco last year.
Mr. Emin Kaya, the Cultural and Information Attaché of the Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in Dubai, indicated that the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s strategy aims at exhibiting the country’s gifted natural wealth - its organic health facilities, resorts, golf courses, verdant mountains, sunny sands and pure water - in addition to its rich historical and cultural heritage.
More importantly, the Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in Dubai is seizing the opportunity of Turkey’s participation in the ATM 2010 to announce the Turkish Health Tourism Organization’s (TUHETO) initiative to promote therapeutic tourism in Turkey. A series of workshops is being held for healthcare experts and representatives of the travel trade. This complements the earlier direct outreach approach favoured by the Turkish Ministry. In 2009, the Ministry held annual roadshows in joint collaboration with Turkish Hoteliers' Association (TUROB) at Aleppo, Damascus, Beirut, Amman, Dubai, Tehran and Manama. As part of the many initiatives, the promotion office will now offer an Arabic language interface to all its communications efforts, including its portal www.goturkey.com.
Within the scope of the Tourism Strategy 2023 action plan, the research and development of efforts for 10 new tourism cities will be conducted and completed. The new cities are Igneada - Kiyikoy Ecotourism City, Kilyos, Saros Bay, Kapidag Peninsula, Avsa and Mamara Isles Tourism Cities, Datca, Kas, Anamur, Samandag, Macka and Kahta Tourism Cities. Moreover, seven thematic tourism development zones include Olive, Winter, Faith, Silk Road, Black Sea, Plateau and Thrace Cultural Corridor will cater to the varied demands of the visitors to Turkey.
Incidentally, Istanbul is the 2010 European Capital of Culture and offers 170 cultural events and 500 plus cultural and artistic events that make the capital an appealing destination of choice to Arab visitors.
