Denizli took action to become a tourism city

Hayati ARIGAN

Denizli Metropolitan Municipality held a search conference (a participatory planning methodology aiming to create a common mind) under the name of ‘Denizli Designs Its Future’ on 10-11 September. Professional teams of experts in their fields came together with sector representatives and business people of the city and discussed the tourism sector. A top policy document was developed for Denizli to become a tourism and brand city. In the search conference, the prioritised targets are planned to be projected and implemented respectively.

250 million extra income target from 2.5 million tourists
Mayor of Denizli Metropolitan Municipality said, ‘We have nearly 30 ancient cities such as Hierapolis, Laodikeia, Tripolis, Herakleia, Attuda and Colossae, 21 ruins, more than 20 mounds and 4 museums. We are almost the only city in Türkiye with this richness. We aim for this historical richness to contribute more to the city. With the steps we will take in tourism, we want to increase the number of tourists coming to the city and the tourism income generated by the city. If we can ensure that the 2.5 million tourists coming to our city annually stay 1 extra night, we can generate extra tourism income from 100 euro per person to 250 million euro.’

We will bring Pamukkale to Denizli
Stating that Pamukkale, which is the biggest value of Türkiye and the world, does not belong to Denizli, Çavuşoğlu said, ‘There is a situation that one of the most important values of Denizli does not belong to Denizli. Pamukkale travertines are under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and only 5 per cent of its income comes to Denizli. We are talking about Pamukkale, whose archaeological sites are also rented out on a lease basis. You will make every effort to bring Pamukkale back to Denizli. In 2025, the Pamukkale archaeological site rental period ends. We will do our best to get it. If Pamukkale becomes our city, our road map will progress faster in this journey.’

Most tourists are from the Far East
Mayor Bülent Nuri Çavuşoğlu said, ‘The number of foreign tourists is higher. The countries that visit the city the most are South Korea, China, Italy, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia, USA, Brazil, Spain and Japan. Our main target in terms of foreign tourists is the Far East and European countries.’ Stating that the most preferred regions in the city are the ancient cities of Hierapolis and Laodikeia, Çavuşoğlu said, ‘In 2023, 2 million 190 thousand 218 people visited Hierapolis, 117 thousand 586 people visited Laodikeia, and 28 thousand 11 people visited Atatürk House and Ethnography Museum. By the end of 2024, we foresee that these numbers will increase.’

Women are in the first place in the work rate
In the sectoral distribution of Denizli’s industrial enterprises, 6 sectors are at the forefront. These are textile and apparel, electrolytic copper wire and cable, iron-steel and metal goods, natural stone, machinery manufacturing, food-beverage and winemaking. Denizli produces 2 out of every 3 towels and bathrobes and 1 out of every 2 sheets and duvet covers that Türkiye exports.

Cable and copper wire manufacturers realise one third of Denizli's exports. The share of iron and steel products in exports is 14 per cent. The second largest natural stone basin of our country is in Denizli. The natural stone sector, which has a share of 6 per cent in Denizli's exports, exports approximately 280 million dollars every year and ranks first in the country in the export of processed natural stone with its production and export capacity.

Tourism will be an additional wagon for industry
Stating that there are 8 5-star, 8 4-star, 4 3-star, 4 3-star and 6 boutique hotels in the city, Çavuşoğlu said that investments will increase as the number of tourists increases. Çavuşoğlu continued his words as follows: ‘Denizli Metropolitan Municipality provides and will continue to provide all kinds of support to investors in terms of zoning.

With the tourism workshop after the search conference, project studies with the prominent cities of the Aegean and Mediterranean Region in tourism are aimed. Stakeholder meetings will also be held for the VisitDenizli project, which constitutes the theme of the search conference. A road map will be drawn with the infrastructure and promotional activities that will increase the brand value of the city and the outputs of the search conference.

National and international festivals, activities to ensure the city's tourism diversity and sustainability, congresses, alternative tourism routes are some of the targeted activities. We will do our best to highlight the beauties of other districts, especially Çal and Buldan.’