New tourism concept in Black Sea: ‘Green Voyage’

GİRESUN - Anatolia News Agency

With new arrangements and architectural developments as part of the ‘Green Voyage’ project, the highlands in the Black Sea region will present a new face, according to Giresun Governor Dursun Şahin. He says that the region can gain a greater share of the country’s tourism market with the implementation of the plan. AA photo

Black Sea highlands will draw larger numbers of visitors thanks to a new tourism concept called “Green Voyage,” according to authorities in Giresun.

The lush highlands, which were once a source of income with stockbreeding, will now become attractive places for tourists, Giresun Gov. Dursun Ali Şahin said.

“The Green Voyage concept, initiated by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, will lead this movement,” Şahin recently told Anatolia news agency. “People have so far enjoyed the coastal areas, but now they are fed up with the heat, noise and humidity and miss natural and green regions. They want to escape big cities and holiday resorts and prefer to go to highlands in order to feel nature and to see all the colors of green.”

Şahin said the Green Voyage tourism concept was being implemented in the “Eastern Black Sea Tourism Development Plan” so that the Black Sea region could gain a greater share of the country’s tourism market.

Giresun will be center

Foreign tourists coming to Turkey mostly visit the Mediterranean and Aegean regions as part of “Blue Voyage” holidays to make the most of the sea and sun, Şahin said.

Under the Green Voyage plan, an Eastern Black Sea Regional Development Administration including Giresun, Ordu, Trabzon, Artvin, Bayburt, Gümüşhane, Rize and Samsun will be formed, Şahin said, adding that the administrative center would be Giresun since it was located in the middle of the region.
“People have become bored of humidity and want to see fog and snow. The eastern Black Sea region is the best place to see them,” he said. “For now on, people will travel to highlands to feel relieved; traveling to green means traveling to highlands.”

With new arrangements and architectural developments, the region will present a new face, Şahin said, adding that people would have new sources of income as highlands become centers of tourism.
The owners of nearly 30 tourism agencies from Middle Eastern countries visited the highlands in the Black Sea last month, the governor said, adding that this was very important for the development of tourism in the region.

Şahin said there were many highlands in Giresun, such as Kümbet, Bektaş, Kulakkaya, and that these areas had unique scenery.

“We need to show this beauty to the world. Tourism is a low-cost investment,” he said, adding that the region would get its share from tourism thanks to the “Green Voyage” concept. “Accordingly, a few hotels will be built in the region to solve the problem of accommodation. The structures on the highlands will be made of wood and no taller than the trees,” he said.

Şahin also said the Virgin Mary Monastery would become a tourist center with the construction of a new airport between Ordu and Giresun.