Türkiye seeking to diversify tourism source markets

ISTANBUL

Türkiye will seek to lure more tourists from the U.S., South America, Far East, Asia and Gulf nations while continuing to focus on existing strategic markets, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has said.

“We are promoting [Türkiye] in a more professional way thanks to the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA), which we launched four years ago,” Ersoy said, speaking at the opening ceremony of the East Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Exhibition (EMITT) in Istanbul.

“We will concentrate more on quality rather than quantity in the future. We will focus on diversifying source markets in order to boost our tourism revenues. We are spreading tourism activities to 12 months and Türkiye’s 81 provinces by offering diversified products,” he added.

The Culture Road Festival project was first launched in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district in 2021, similar events were held in the provinces of Ankara, Çanakkale, Diyarbakır and Konya last year, Ersoy explained.

“The festival will be launched in six more provinces in 2023, and five more cities will be added each year going forward. The number of provinces holding this festival will increase to 38 in 2028,” Ersoy said, adding that they are also working in the field of gastronomy as part of efforts to diversify products and services.

Recalling that Michelin Guide added Istanbul to its list in 2022, the minister said, “We want to have at least two more destinations added to the guide this year, while our target is to have five provinces in the guide by 2028.”

Presently, promotion campaigns are being carried out in more than 200 countries, Ersoy said, noting that they are working on a project to produce movies and TV series together with Hollywood to be released on global platforms as part of those efforts.

‘$100 billion revenue in 2028’

Türkiye’s tourism industry quickly recovered from the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and managed to increase its tourism revenues by 19 percent compared with 2019 last year, according to the minister.

The initial targets set for 2022 were 42 million tourists and $35 billion in revenues, Ersoy recalled. “We revised those targets three times during the year. At the end of the year, we welcomed 51.4 million foreign tourists and generated $46.3 billion in tourism revenues. Türkiye was the third most visited country in the world.”

Türkiye aims to host 60 million tourists and generate $56 billion in tourism revenues this year, the minister reminded. “Our target for 2028 is to welcome 90 million tourists and $100 billion in revenues.”