AS Turkey’s arrivals from the region continue to grow LIZ O’REILLY spoke to SEDAT GONULLUOGLU, cultural advisor at Turkish Tourism’s Dubai office to find out what’s behind the numbers and what the future holds.
What were Turkey’s arrival numbers for 2010 compared to 2009, was the country’s tourism industry much affected by the economic downturn and are you seeing signs of recovery?
According to statistics from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in 2009 27,077,114 tourists visited Turkey. In 2010, up to December, the number was 26,336,677. Tourism is one of the industries less affected by the economic downturn but, of course, we would like the numbers to be higher than last year.
Do you have Middle East specific figures and a breakdown of Arab travellers compared to expats?
Compared to 2009 there is a 34.9 per cent increase from the UAE, 25.35 per cent increase from Qatar, 26.84 per cent increase from Saudi Arabia and 85.07 per cent increase from Lebanon.
Which were the main markets in the region?
Turkish Tourism Office, Dubai, is responsible for the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait. We see no difference between these countries and are not targeting a specific market. We want all the people from the region to be our guests and visit our beautiful places.
Last year visitors from the region rose by around 20 per cent, overall, is this upward trend continuing and, if so, to what do you attribute this increasing popularity?
We believe the upward trend is continuing and we would like to host more people from this region.
There are plenty of factors to Turkey’s popularity, but the main one is Turkish television drama and series.
People like them a lot and they want to see the places where they are shot. Many people know and love these series and lots of them are shot in Istanbul.
Another factor is shopping. People from this region love shopping. We have products which are good quality at reasonable prices.
We have world-class hotels with great service. Our quests feel that they are special and they deserve this quality.
A third factor is our visa system. Visitors can get visas from the airport. They can just decide and go to Turkey, they don’t need to hesitate.
1. Development of Turkey into a year-round destination has previously been mentioned, how is this progressing, particularly with regard to Middle Eastern visitors, and what steps are being taken to promote the destination?
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Gonulluoglu...numbers up |
We are trying to diversify the destinations people visit. We have sea, historical areas, museums and great food for people to try and enjoy.
This year the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and the Municipality of Istanbul are organising the Istanbul Shopping Festival fort he first time.
It will run from March 18 till April 26 and our slogan is ‘40 Days Shop ’n’ Fun’.
What kind marketing programmes do you have planned for 2011?
Every year we launch an advertising campaign including newspapers, television channels, bilboards and the internet. We will start the campaign at the beginning of March and we will continue through to the new year.
We will also attend five tourism fairs around the region – we are one of main participants at Arabian Travel Market.
We will bring some Turkish celebrities who are well known and famous in the region and in February the famous actor Kivanc Tatlitug will visit us.
How are you working with the region’s travel agents?
We believe that travel agents are the most important element in our business. If they don’t believe that Turkey is good to go, we can do nothing. So, we are planning to organise a familiarisation trip. We will send some tour agents to see the destinations they will sell so they can give their opinions to our guests.
What are your targets and plans for 2011 and the coming years?
Our Minister Ertugrul Gunay has set a target for us of more than 30 million tourists in 2011. We would like to take some steps to reach this target. We want Turkey to be known as a first destination of choice and we want to see more Arabian guests in our country.