Firuz Bağlıkaya, President of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB), made a statement in response to reports that tourism professionals want the visa-on-arrival practice to be stopped. Bağlıkaya said, "If our citizens cannot find the opportunity to vacation in their own country and instead vacation abroad, it is not possible to talk about tourism success."
Recent claims suggest that Turkish citizens are turning to Greek islands due to the visa-on-arrival policy, and this situation is negatively impacting Turkish tourism.
In response, the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB) issued a statement.
Firuz Bağlıkaya, President of TÜRSAB, said on social media:
"I would like to clarify that there is no such request from us as travel agencies regarding the removal of the visa-on-arrival policy for Greek islands.
If there is a negative trend in tourism, the solution is not to block travel to our competitors but to identify the sources of tourist dissatisfaction.
If our citizens cannot find the opportunity to vacation in their own country and can only vacation abroad, it is not possible to talk about tourism success."