Meetings have been held in Didim, Kusadasi and Bodrum over the last week as travel agents and authorities came together to assess the 2022 holiday season and look to a new one.

Turkish Travel Agencies Association (TÜRSAB) Chairman of the Board Firuz Bağlıkaya evaluated the 2022 tourism season in the program where he met with tourism professionals in Kuşadası.

TÜRSAB Aydın Regional Representative Board Chairman Eda Yurtcan, board members and agency representatives attended the meeting held in the ancient arch on the Kirazlı road.

Answering the questions of journalists at the meeting, Bağlıkaya made striking statements. Baglikaya said, “The 2022 tourism season has surpassed the 2019 season, it seems that it will extend until the end of November in certain regions, demands and reservations are in that direction. 

“I think it will be higher in winter than in previous winters. There is a longing for travel and vacation in the world in general. There is 50 percent tourism activity all over the world. In our own region, as much as possible, we closed with a rise with our main markets. 

“The rise in the Middle East, Iran market, England and Germany helped. I think it will continue like this in the future. In 2022, the ministry revised the figures twice, and we revised it. This was not what anyone expected, it was a development beyond what we expected. Arrivals exceeded our expectations. 

“Hopefully, if nothing goes wrong in 2023, we expect the longing for travel to continue. I believe that serious records will be broken in 2023 and 2024.”

“Turkey ‘s natural beauties, service quality, product quality and our price balance are already in a position to compete in other countries. When we look at the world tourism revenues, we are one click behind, but we believe that we will close this in the coming period.”

Didim’s Tourism Evaluation Meeting

The tourism evaluation meeting was held in the presence of Didim District Governorship.

District Governor Can Kazım Kuruca, Didim Gendarmerie Commander Gani Solak, District Police Chief Yunus Dinç, Aydın Provincial Culture and Tourism Deputy Director Ahmet Demir, Didim Tourism Unit Chief Nilüfer Kıpır, Didim Deputy Mayor Zeynel Şener, and DITAB President Sevinç Karataş at the Aquasis hotel.

Didim Tourism Association President Mustafa Şentürk and many accommodation facility operators also attended.

Didim District Governor Can Kazım Kuruca, who made the opening speech, said, “We live in one of the most beautiful cities, not only in Turkey, but also in the world, with the beauties we have and the historical heritage we have. 

“We organized this meeting in order to reveal the excellent potential of Didim in cooperation and cooperation. First of all, we will evaluate 2022 and talk about our expectations for 2023. What steps should we take as a state? What should we do as private businesses? What are your expectations from us, what are our expectations from you? We will talk about these. 

“Within the framework of governance, as in every decision regarding Didim, we would like to start by consulting you, listening to the veterans of the sector, and solving their problems. 

“While the number of foreign tourists visiting Didim in 2021 was 328,000, in the first eight months of 2022, we hosted 528,000 foreign tourists. The occupancy rate of our accommodation facilities was around 95 percent.”

He said visitors primarily came from the UK, Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan and many other countries. “In order to increase these numbers even higher, we must increase the number of qualified accommodation facilities. We are together to talk about what we can do better,” he said.

Accommodation operators who took the floor mentioned the shortcomings in Didim: lack of infrastructure, water shortage, lack of toilets and showers on the beaches, opening of the existing bays, unplanned construction, and preventing the unregistered rental of day-to-day houses.

They also called for the Altınkum Vakıflar land to be used as an archeology museum. Taking note of the issues, the officials stated that they will work on the solutions.

Tourism Forum in Bodrum

Bodrum Tourism Forum, “Blue Economy”, organized in cooperation with Bodrum Municipality, Bodrum Promotion Foundation, Mediterranean Tourism Foundation and The Bodrum Cup, began this week.

Bodrum Tourism Forum, which was held for the first time this year, started in a hotel in the Yalı neighborhood.  Sustainable economic growth, culture of talent and service excellence, science and innovation, and the blue economy will be discussed in the panels under the title “Rethinking about the blue economy” with the participation of many names who shape the world and Mediterranean tourism.

The opening speech of Bodrum Tourism Forum was made by Muğla Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Osman Gürün, Bodrum Mayor CHP Ahmet Aras, The Bodrum Cup Committee Chairman Süleyman Uysal and Mediterranean Tourism Forum President Tony Zahra.

The blue economy focuses on ensuring the environmental sustainability of the seas and coastal areas while supporting economic growth, the development and protection of the livelihoods of seafarers. 

It covers all production and marketing activities in the marine and coastal regions, from reducing risks for blue resources and to the production of these resources. Aradhana Khowala, CEO and founder of Aptamind Partners, which provides global tourism consultancy services, shares the evaluation on the topic “Rethinking about the blue economy”, which is the focus of Bodrum Tourism Forum.

Speaking at the opening of the forum, Bodrum Cup Committee Chairman Süleyman Uysal underlined that the Bodrum Cup is not just a race, but all the beauties of Bodrum packed into one week, and said, “Our goal as an institution is to ensure sustainability, to ensure that everyone behind Bodrum Cup to connect.”

Aras pointed out that with this forum, they offer the opportunity to bring up sustainable projects that will carry Mediterranean and Turkish tourism to the future, and said, “As Bodrum, we aim to lead the blue economy and sustainable tourism. We need to make an effort to increase the resilience of the tourism sector in the world and turn it into a sustainable one.”

“We can offer not only sea and sand, but also many opportunities such as eco tourism, rural tourism, cultural tourism. The escalating climate crisis and other environmental problems are increasingly affecting the travel choices of tourists. 

“We are trying to develop our tourism strategies in line with the realities of the Blue Economy. However, sustainable tourism, diversification of the local economy, It is important to address local development and reducing both poverty and migration for the future.”

Muğla Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Osman Gürün pointed out that Muğla has many touristic destinations with a coastline of 1448 kilometers and that Bodrum is a flagship in this respect,

He continued: “Tourism is an important movement that will positively affect peace, love and mutual understanding. As people get to know each other, they can move away from fixed ideas. “