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Türkiye emerges as top destination for German tourists

While recovery continues in the tourism sector worldwide following disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Türkiye has once again been one of the top choices for many foreigners, including Germans. Norbert Fiebig, head of the German Travel Agencies Association (DRV), recently spoke at the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) Fair in Berlin, where he expressed his optimism for the recovery of the tourism sector following the COVID-19 outbreak. "We received strong reservations in December, January and February. The good news for our Turkish partners and friends is that Türkiye is at the top," Fiebig stated. Fiebig went on to emphasize the importance of face-to-face participation at the ITB fair, noting that it was the first time in three years that such an event had taken place since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. “While the industry is recovering and the booking situation is currently very positive. Last year we already had a very good summer season, we almost reached the pre-COVID-19 pandemic level. And indeed this will continue. We received strong bookings in December, January and February,” he said. Fiebig explained that the Germans wanted to go on vacations after the "sad" period of the pandemic and that they made reservations by re-imagining old traditional destinations such as Türkiye. According to Fiebig, high inflation and energy costs are having an impact on the holiday decisions of Germans, who are becoming more price sensitive. "We see that destinations with excellent prices and quality are very popular. German customers are particularly interested in all-inclusive offers as they provide budgetary assurance," Fiebig noted. “Türkiye is one of the most successful destinations for German tourists, and demand for all-inclusive packages is particularly high. We are actively working to encourage more Germans to travel to Türkiye and maintain the strong relationship between our two countries," Fiebig said. Fiebig emphasized the importance of the partnership between Germany and Türkiye in the tourism sector, noting that the DRV is committed to promoting tourism and ensuring the safety and satisfaction of German travelers. Marking a complete rebound from a pandemic fallout, foreign arrivals in Türkiye neared record and all-time high revenues in 2022 and prompted the government to raise its tourism estimates for this year. Tourism revenues jumped 53.4% to a record $46.3 billion last year, blowing past the previous high of $38.4 billion in 2019 before the pandemic hit. The figure stood at $30.2 billion in 2021 after the outbreak, while it was just $14.8 billion in 2020. The number of foreign visitors arriving in January jumped 56.51% from a year earlier to 2 million, the Culture and Tourism Ministry said in February. The arrivals compared with 1.28 million foreign visitors in January 2022; 509,787 in January 2021; and the record 1.8 million in 2020, just before the onset of the pandemic in the country. Visitors from Russia, Bulgaria and Germany, with a combined tally of 587,000 people, topped the list of foreigners who visited Türkiye in January, according to the data. Russians led the way with over 279,818 arrivals, double compared to a year ago. Bulgaria followed with 167,138 visitors (up 52% year over year), Germany with 139,955 (up 36.4%), and Georgia with 114,508 (up 190.4%). Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has said foreign arrivals are expected to reach 60 million in 2023, before hitting 90 million in 2028. For the income, the government sees it rising to $56 billion this year and $100 billion five years from now. COVID-19 restrictions all but dissipated in 2022 and Russians came in droves partly due to flight restrictions imposed by Western nations over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of Russians are also estimated to have moved last year to Türkiye, seen as a safe haven for investment in homes and other assets. Arrivals were also backed by a surging demand from European countries, spearheaded by Germany and the United Kingdom. Source: Daily Sabah

TRNC's target is more than 2 million tourists

Fikri Ataoğlu, Deputy Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Minister of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Environment, answered the questions of the AA correspondent at the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) Fair held in Berlin, the capital of Germany. Explaining that they participated in the ITB Fair again 3 years after the Covid-19 epidemic, Ataoğlu stated that they wanted to show the historical richness, natural beauties and the existence of many alternative tourism models in the TRNC. Expressing that they have overcome the Covid-19 period positively in the field of tourism in the TRNC, Ataoğlu said that they reached the number of tourists in 2019 in 2022. Ataoğlu said, "But our main goal in 2023 is to bring more tourists to the country than in 2019 and 2022 and to exceed 2 million if nothing goes wrong again and everything continues as we want." Enrichment of alternative tourism models Ataoğlu stated that the hotels in the TRNC can compete with the existing hotels in the world and that they aim to enrich alternative tourism models in the country. Emphasizing that the hotels in the TRNC are very luxurious, Ataoğlu said, “We always talk proudly that we are in a position to compete with the world. We started to work to increase this even more. We continue to work to enrich alternative tourism models.” Expressing that they aim to increase the number of tourists with the opening of the new airport in a few months, Ataoğlu stated that in recent days, Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism and various channels of Germany, Russia, England and Turkey have been working on advertisements promoting the TRNC, and that they have received serious feedback. Emphasizing that many German tourists come to the TRNC, Ataoğlu said, “This is what we always say; You can see and get to know the TRNC not by telling but by living it. Tourism in TRNC is sustainable Minister Ataoğlu stated that they are assertive in the field of tourism and they do whatever needs to be done for this and continued as follows: "The new airport? Yes, we are doing it, it is almost finished. New alternative tourism models? Yes, they will also take action in the coming days. When we say alternative tourism models, we mean that hotels on the one hand, health tourism on the one hand, golf courses, sports tourism, football on the one hand. "Our intention is to build the infrastructure of many similar events, where the dynamic sector can come, and to bring them (tourists) to our country after this infrastructure (works) after that. We continue our work. It is very productive." Pointing out that those who come to TRNC as tourists have started to buy housing, Ataoğlu said, “Now, tourism is at a sustainable level for us. Because Northern Cyprus is very little affected by all the negativities, the negativities that the world and some countries have gone through. If this is the case and if it is a safe country, then everyone should come to the TRNC. This is already happening.” Ataoğlu concluded his words as follows: "In our country, we started to bring these tourists on time out here, and then when we increased the 1-week stay to 2 weeks, it gave birth to different things. What things? To the tourists who came there to own housing there. Many foreign tourists started to buy housing when they came to the country. Of course, it is important to buy housing. Now they become permanent tourists there. When you buy a house, when your house is empty there, you rent that house to your acquaintances, your spouse, your friend, your friends. Therefore, that house of yours is also included in the tourism sector. These are also in a predominant position at the moment."

'Health Tourism is not managed from a single hand in our country'

Many hotels and tourism companies from Turkey participated in ITB Berlin, one of the world's largest tourism fairs. Many representatives of the Health Tourism industry, which has made a name for itself in recent years in our country, participated in the fair. Participating in the Berlin ITB fair, TURSAB Board Member and MedWorld A.Ş. Elif Ural, Chairman of the Board of Directors, answered our questions about "Health Tourism" to Aşkın Koç. Aşkın Koç: We came to Berlin ITB after a long break. How did you find the fair? Elif Ural: The fair took a long break during the pandemic period. It hasn't been a short break like Madrid, so people have to get used to it. The locations of the stands and countries have changed this year. We are only on the first day of the fair, I hope the next days will be better. Aşkın Koç: Is there a special section on Health Tourism at the ITB Berlin Fair? Elif Ural: Yes, for the first time, there is a special section on Health Tourism at the fair. It made us very happy when we first heard about it. But when we got here it was a bit of a disappointment. What we were told was that the health tourism centers and health tourism agencies all over the world would all be in a separate section. But when I came here, I saw that there is only a health tourism operator from Germany and clinics and agencies from Turkey. Wrong section. Especially in an unvisited part of the fair. It didn't go well this way. In my opinion, it would be better to include health tourism within the countries instead of a separate section. Aşkın Koç: Are you going to start a study for this next year? Elif Ural: Especially as TURSAB and the Ministry of Trade, I think a study should be started on this. Because Germany is an important destination for us. We cannot promote Health Tourism very well in Germany. Germany is on the list of target countries in the Ministry of Commerce. We need to talk more about German insurance. In real terms, we need to present ourselves very strongly in Health Tourism at ITB Berlin at this fair. Aşkın Koç: In all my news and interviews for ten years, we have been saying that Health Tourism is the sector of the future. But we still see that the sector has not fully settled. There are people and businesses like you who are devoted to this business. But everyone works individually. It seems that it has not been institutionalized like other sub-branches of tourism. What do you think is the reason for this? Elif Ural: I was at the Italy booth a while ago. Health Tourism in Italy was within the Italian Ministry of Health. Private clinics and private health hotels were promoted together with Italian Municipalities and within the Ministry of Health. We also have many institutions and structures related to the sector. But we cannot manage health tourism on behalf of the country in full unity and solidarity. There are separate administrations for ministries, separate unions, and separate institutions. We, as TURSAB, are responsible for all health tourism agencies in Turkey, and we are also trying to do something. Actually, we're going back and forth. The market has huge potential, but we still have a long way to go. But I hope we will work harder. Aşkın Koç: What services do you provide in the field of Health Tourism in Antalya? Elif Ural: We established MedWorld Tourism travel agency in 2018 and we provide services with 10 offices in various countries. In 2019, we established Medworld Health Service A.Ş. Rixos Downtown, which is Turkey's first Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Center with accommodation within the Resort hotel. We established Medworld Global Health Services Inc. Pine Beach Belek in 2021 and Lara Smile A.Ş Oral and Dental Health Polyclinic in 2022. At first, we said that everyone comes to Antalya for a holiday, would they come for health? But we built it believing that people would. We said, what do we lack from Czechia or Hungary, we can compete with them. Our health capacity and price policy are much better than theirs. Only our promotion in the sector was missing, there was none. We started promotions individually first, then we received the support of ministries. We are getting positive results. 95 percent of the audience sees the sector, but 5 percent of the audience does health tourism in real terms. But in our country, we can increase it to 50%. We are increasing our physical therapy center with accommodation to 3. We are increasing our physical therapy center with accommodation to 3. Again, we opened a dental hospital in Kundu that will fully serve Health Tourism. We serve football players in England. We have agreements with many football teams. Germany is a very important market for us. The proliferation of such centers will take the industry further. However, it is necessary to develop more institutional structures with offices in countries. Aşkın Koç: There are more than a thousand dental clinics in Antalya, what do you think about this? Elif Ural: Having a lot of something in one place is actually good. But this number is quite high. Excessive numbers lead to price reductions and unfair competition. The limit shown in other branches of health should also be applied in dental clinics. The Ministry of Health needs to stop this immediately and the ministry needs to develop a price policy in this regard. Aşkın Koç: Thank you for the information you provided. We wish you success in your work.

#Berlin Itb Fair

Türkiye emerges as top destination for German tourists

TRNC's target is more than 2 million tourists

'Health Tourism is not managed from a single hand in our country'