Minister’s call: Municipalities to prepare an urgent tourism master plan

MARUF BUZCUGIL / GAZIANTEP

Making statements to journalists in Gaziantep during the 10th leg of this year's Culture Road Festivals, Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy stated that tourism master plans are the work of municipalities and that they have made a call to municipalities on this issue and said the following: “We have written especially to Metropolitan Municipalities and all municipalities. We are asking you to create your tourism master plans urgently. Tourism master plans should be created by municipalities. We will give support. But it is not something we can do. Street sanitization is not our job. Transportation infrastructure is not our job. Treatment infrastructures, overhead infrastructures. These are not the ministry's job. You will build the best airport in the world, but you must provide tent transportation to the city center.”

TURKEY HAS ITALY IN ITS SIGHTS
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said that Turkey will surpass Italy in terms of the number of tourists next year and rise to fourth place in the world ranking. Minister Ersoy said that despite the European football championships in Germany and the Olympic Games in France in July and August, the number of tourists arriving did not decrease and that they are behind the target of over 60 million tourists and over $60 billion in tourism revenues in 2024. Reminding that Turkey was 7th in the tourism world ranking in 2017, Minister Ersoy said, “We are in the top 5 in 2024. God willing, next year we will surpass Italy in the number of tourists and rank 4th.”

Ersoy reminded that Italy established the world's first tourism development agency in 1919, and that it came to Turkey 100 years later in 2019, and said that Italians today come to remember the past and ask about the successful activities of our Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA).

CITIZENS TRAVELING TO GREEK ISLANDS
Answering a question about Turkish citizens flocking to Greek islands, Ersoy said: “Shall I say something broader and more realistic? Everyone in the world, all countries are our potential visitors. At the same time, all countries in the world are our potential competitors. Tourism is like that. Someone goes and steals from your restaurant. Someone steals a little bit of your culture. Everyone can steal something from you. You can steal something from everyone. Everyone is our target potential competitor. This is how you plan it.”

BASEMENT, FOUNTAIN DEPENDENT ONLY ON LOCAL TOURISTS
Minister Ersoy said that the reason for the high cost in Bodrum and Çeşme is that they are indexed to a single type of tourism and the Turkish market, and that tourism here cannot be spread over 8 months and a year. Ersoy said, “The problem with Çeşme and Bodrum is that they are indexed to a single market. This is a general strategy. When you create a tourism that is only indexed to the Turkish market, it starts around the end of June 15 when the schools close. It starts to shrink in the last week of August. Because it is related to the opening and closing of schools.”

CULTURAL ASSETS IN THE EARTHQUAKE ZONE TO RISE IN 2025

Answering a question about the status of cultural assets in the earthquake zone, Minister Ersoy said that all cultural assets belonging to the public sector will be restored by the end of 2025. Ersoy said that they accept all applications for cultural assets belonging to the private sector, citizens, not belonging to the public sector, not belonging to the General Directorate of Foundations and the General Directorate of Cultural Assets, but belonging to our citizens and that they have started a grant program.

SUPRA-POLITICAL OWNERSHIP OF CULTURE ROAD FESTIVALS
Minister Ersoy stated that Culture Road festivals are in great demand and acceptance from provinces at the local level and said, “We are always going for institutionalization. The ownership above politics is what we aim for. It has now reached 16 cities. It will be 20 next year. Our goal is to increase it to 35.” Stating that there is an intense demand from municipalities, Ersoy said, “We have made a new structure in our Ministry. We have created a General Directorate of Living Heritage and Cultural Activities. The expert team organizes these works in the general directorate. There is a very wide spread. The number of provinces is increasing every year. If possible, we continue the festivals on the same dates every year.”

Without compulsory membership, there would not be a single member left in TÜRSAB
Minister Ersoy, without mentioning his name, referred to the statements of TÜRSAB President Firuz Bağlıkaya and shared his views on the union as follows: “All NGOs except TÜRSAB are based on volunteerism. All managers and members are volunteers. There are no difficulties or sanctions. This is not the case in the world either. Only in our country, unfortunately, it was made compulsory when the law was made at the time. Compulsory membership was introduced. If you remove the obligation today, you will not find a single member in TURSAB. There are weaknesses due to TÜRSAB management. But look at other voluntary NGOs, the number of members is increasing day by day. Because they are based on volunteerism. They do the right things in the right way. They prioritize their personal interests and the interests of the organization. Unfortunately, there is a rotten structure there. That structure continues in that way. For us, it is not the biggest NGO in the sector. The biggest NGO of the sector is accommodation (Hoteliers Association). At the moment, transportation NGOs are much better because of the role they play.”

Without mentioning his name, Ersoy said, “If you want to make political opposition, join a political party” regarding the claims of TÜRSAB President Bağlıkaya.

THY is our biggest weapon
Stating that Turkey's biggest weapon in developing tourism is THY, Minister Ersoy said: “We said that every destination where the Red Flag flies will be a target destination from now on. It was a very clear and wide target. Turkish Airlines flies direct to 330 destinations. From 330 points, we will bring tourists, we will promote wherever it flies. In this way, we started to promote in 200 countries. As of 2019, Turkey has become a country that promotes in 200 countries in the world, promoting intensively and effectively.”