The tourism agenda was discussed at the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers Association (AKTOB) May Traditional Dinner.
Antalya Municipality Mayor Muhittin Böcek, Muratpaşa Mayor Ümit Uysal, TÜROFED President Erkan Yağcı, former TÜROFED Presidents, Sururi Çorabatır, Osman Ayık, Ahmet BARUT, ATSO President Ali Bahar, ATAV President Yeliz Gül, KETOB President Dinçer Sarıkaya, Antalya German Consul Martin Tscherner, Deputy Consuls and many tourism professionals attended the meeting.
(AKTOB) President Kaan Kaşif Kavaloğlu thanked Akra Hotels Chairman Haydar Barut for the event hosted by Akra Hotel. In the traditional lunch program held on May 10, he made a presentation on the Sustainable Tourism Program, GSTC Conference and tourism data. In his speech, he stated that the effects of climate change have started to increase and tourism is also affected by this. “The tourism sector accounts for 5% and 8% of global greenhouse gases. This situation is expected to affect flights over 4 hours. We attach great importance to the green protocol signed by EU member states in this regard. In this framework, the Sustainable Tourism program Agreement with GSTC will become even more important.”
He noted that within the scope of the Sustainable Tourism Program, not only the enterprises included in the program, but also the cooperation of municipalities, public will and the private sector are required. Stating that the Green Tourism Certificate Program was put into effect quickly due to the fact that the Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy came from within the sector, Kavaloğlu stated that 1188 hotels received the first stage certificate and 197 hotels completed the third stage.
Pointing out that the tourism activity in Antalya is higher this year compared to previous years, Kavaloğlu said, “The German market in Antalya has exceeded 2019 figures according to 4-month figures. Germany overtook Russia after a long time. The Russian market is a bit far from 2019 figures. Compared to last year, there is a significant increase. Behind it are the UK, Dutch and Polish markets. We care about Poland, after the UK market, Poland also shows a significant increase.”
Stating that Russia and Ukraine are important markets, Kavaloğlu wished that the war between the two countries would end as soon as possible.
Noting that there was a decrease in reservations due to the earthquake in Turkey, but reservations are increasing at the moment, Kavaloğlu said that our expectation is that the demand acceleration will increase in 2023.
Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Muhittin Böcek also stated that tourism is important for Antalya and that they have made the necessary investments as a municipality.