Yeşilhisar District Governor Ahmet Ali Altıntaş: "12 balloons take off every day, they will have the chance to watch this natural image from a bird's eye view" Ali Cebeci, Headman of Soganli: "Our number of tourists has increased by over 100 percent"
The landscaping works and the construction of walking paths in the Soğanlı Valley, which is described as the 'Entry Gate of Cappadocia', are about to be finished. The number of tourists in the Soğanlı Valley, which has taken on a different look with the works, has increased more than 2 times, and the guests have the opportunity to watch the historical structure from the air with the hot air balloons that take off every day. After the appointment of Governor Gökmen Çiçek to Kayseri, the work in the Soğanlı Valley, which he attached great importance to, continues uninterruptedly. As the square arrangement and walking paths, which were started to be built, were coming to an end, the valley took on a different appearance. Tourists who come to the valley, where hot air balloons take off, also have the chance to watch the cultural heritage from the air. The number of hosted guests has also increased significantly.
Stating that the work in Soğanlı continues uninterrupted, Culture and Tourism Provincial Director Şükrü Dursun said, "The work that started last year continues at full speed. There are also points that will end soon. A few projects came to the fore last year. One of them is the arrangement of the square, the other is the walking paths, and the other works are the conservation and restoration works within the churches. Our Governor Gökmen Çiçek, our Metropolitan Mayor Memduh Büyükkılıç, and our District Governor Ahmet Ali Altıntaş have always been involved in the work here in cooperation. Work continues here. Many of the works that we have considered especially as square arrangement have come to an end. The walking paths are also the same. Walking paths have also been built so that our visitors who come here can visit the ruins easily and go to places that they could not go before. Likewise, a restoration and cleaning work on the murals was carried out in the Church of St. Barbara, known as the 'Tahtalı Church'. The work there is also almost finished. Noting that Soğanlı will host its guests with its new face, Dursun said, "Work is going well. With its new face, Soğanlı will host many more tourists here. Hot air balloons take off here every day, there is a lot of interest in it. Our work here will not end with these. We will continue our work at many points. We will host many more guests here."
"12 balloons take flight every day, guests will have the chance to watch the natural beauty from a bird's eye view"
Underlining that the works initiated under the leadership of Governor Gökmen Çiçek continue at full speed, Yeşilhisar District Governor Ahmet Ali Altıntaş invited the citizens to Soğanlı with the opening of the ruins. Altıntaş said, "Our Soganli Valley was, of course, a region open to visitors before. However, we have made a very serious progress within the framework of the tourism attack that we started last year and led by our Governor Gökmen Çiçek. Previously, our tourists were trying to reach places that were difficult to reach by going through dusty paths, and this seriously affected tourism. In order to prevent this, a tremendous work was carried out within the framework of the project initiated by our Governor's Office and jointly carried out by our metropolitan city. We have witnessed how good the work done together yields results. There is a very serious historical texture here. These places are home to a history dating back 1,500 years and are a very valuable place for Christianity. In fact, Soğanlı Valley has always been a great potential for tourism. However, this place needed attention and we started it under the leadership of our governor. A serious work began here with the projects prepared by the Provincial Directorate of Culture. They did a study very carefully without damaging the environment. As a result of the works, the cultural presence in these places were brought to the fore. After the opening of our ruins, we invite our tourists to Soğanlı Valley. Because this place met with balloon tourism as well as natural tourism. As of now, 12 balloons are taking off every day and the number of balloons will increase to 16 this season. They will have a chance to watch this natural image from a bird's eye view. It is not possible for everyone to get this opportunity, we want them to come here and take advantage of it."
"Our number of tourists has increased by more than 100 percent"
Stating that the region has had enough of investment this year, Soğanlı Mukhtar Ali Cebeci said, "We have received an investment that has never been seen in Soğanlı, God bless you. Our number of tourists has increased by over 100 percent. New investors are expected, work on hostels will begin. As our governor said, Soğanlı is very beautiful this spring. If it goes on like this, I think it will reach the place it deserves in terms of tourism in Turkey very quickly," he said. Yeşilhisar Mayor Halit Taşyapan said, "We are in Soğanlı, one of the most beautiful spots in Cappadocia. We define our district as a district of agriculture, tourism and history. We hope that this place will also rise very quickly in tourism."