“Wrong pricing policy negatively affects the number of tourists”

Emphasizing that Turkey is an invaluable asset for tourists in terms of the richness and diversity of places to visit and discover, Sager Travel CEO Doğan Sager said, “We should change our price policy, taking into account the economic structure of the countries that visit us. Pricing work, concepts, leads the customer to go to different countries. The target of 100 billion dollars in 5 years is not a dream, but it is impossible with this system. Sager Travel CEO Doğan Sager said that they have organized and implemented many different tour packages in Turkey. In this field, Sager stated that by participating in fairs and Road-Shows organized in Turkey and abroad, they pioneered the recognition of these destinations by everyone;
“At the same time, health tourism continues to make its name known to everyone in the Middle East with our efforts to promote our developing and renewed health services. In this way, the number of foreign patients who want to benefit from this service in our country is increasing day by day. In terms of the richness and diversity of places to visit and explore, Turkey is an invaluable value for tourists. After all the difficulties experienced during the pandemic process, the tourism season of 2022 was very fruitful in every way. The year 2023 is going to be much more challenging. This process is painful as we cannot get out of traditional patterns and prepare for the season with innovative approaches. The most important of these are the wrong and inconsistent price policy applied by many hotels, the inability to prepare new routes to visit, and the inability to effectively carry out promotional and marketing activities abroad. We have a unique geography in terms of the diversity of our natural and cultural heritage. Compared to other tourism countries, it adds value to us. Considering all these riches, important steps should be taken in promotion and marketing. The execution of tourism promotion and development policies by all tourism operators and authorized public institutions will enable them to reach their target faster."

Stating that the Tourism Law No. 1618, which is still valid, is reviewed and adapted to today's conditions and demands without wasting any time, Sager mentioned that it will contribute to important developments; “In this way, the confusion in the functioning of the tourism sector will be eliminated, the reputation of the enterprises serving tourism will be increased, and most importantly, their deserved earnings will be increased. In this way, the annual tourism income in the country will also increase. Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy had set a target: "In the tourism sector, an income of 100 billion dollars is targeted within 5 years". Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to achieve this goal with our current tourism policies. For example, the price of a 4-night package in a luxury hotel in Antalya is 100 thousand liras, while the same chain hotel in Egypt is 24 thousand liras for a 4-night package, causing tourists to be directed to those regions. While preparing a budget, we should also look at the prices of competing countries. However, we should change our price policy by taking into account the economic structure of the countries that visit us, so that the tourists visiting us prefer our country first. What I want to say here is not to drive our prices to the bottom, but to set them according to demand.”

Stating that the tour packages and hotel concepts should be introductory and attractive for the region, Sager said, “Another sad example is that foreign tourists who come with the all-inclusive hotel concept applied in the Aegean and Mediterranean Regions never leave the hotel for 10 days. Various activities within the hotel also attract tourists. Visiting guests prefer to spend time at the hotel instead of seeing Aspendos, the historical Antalya castle, and the Manavgat waterfall. What is tourism actually? Isn't it living that culture and feeling the historical texture? Okay, I'm not saying that the tourist should not go to the sea. At least, the tour package sold includes a 4-day cultural tour program so that those tourists can tell about our historical beauties when they return to their country. The world is currently experiencing a major economic crisis. Even people who have not had financial problems until now, instead of using their holiday preference in favor of our country, turn to holiday packages with lower budgets in other countries. Therefore, we actually need everyone to keep the country's tourism alive. I hope we can catch 60 percent of the number of tourists we brought in 2022 this year. The season in tourism normally starts on April 15 and continues until October 15. This is how we know it. If it's the end of June and the season still hasn't started in Antalya, there is a serious problem. In all regions, we were well below expectations in April, May and June. We hope that we will not experience this in the remaining months and that our industry will see the value it deserves.”