Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers and Operators Association (AKTOB) President Kaan Kasif Kavaloglu stated that they want to reach the target of $60 billion in tourism and said, “We expect this year to be a record for all years in tourism revenues.”
Kavaloglu told Anadolu Agency (AA) that they had the opportunity to obtain the first data for 2023 at the World Tourism Fair held in Berlin, and that the data would be 30% better than last year.
Explaining that Turkiye’s stand attracted great attention and that the fair was only for tourism professionals, Kavaloglu said, “For England, Germany, Benelux countries, the Western European market, Turkiye and Antalya, all tour operators seem to have a plus. 2019 was the record year we reached the highest data. In particular, I think that the number of tourists coming this year will not fall below 15 million in Antalya.”
Emphasizing that there will not be a decrease in the number of tourists coming from Western Europe and Russia, Kavaloglu stated that the service they provided during the epidemic was accepted by all the countries of the world.
Underlining that they provide healthy and safe tourism services, Kavaloglu said:
“There can be no world tourism without Turkiye and Antalya. It is a great advantage for us that both the cost-benefit analysis is in favor of the consumer and the fact that almost 99% of the tourists who come to our country return to their countries happily. I think that the tourism income in 2023 will not be below $55 billion for the whole of Turkiye. Our goal in tourism is to reach the $60 billion revenue target. We expect this year to be a record for all years in tourism revenues.”
“The European market will be much better than last year”
Pointing out that the input costs in tourism have also increased, Kavaloglu stated that it is more important to work on increasing revenues rather than increasing the number of tourists.
Pointing out that for the first time in 2022, Turkiye has made package sales of more than a thousand dollars, Kavaloglu said:
“Our Minister of Culture and Tourism has been emphasizing lately, we need to look at the nightly sales prices. We are almost at the same point as Spain, at the level of around $95. We have Italy and France with $115 ahead of us. Greece is $90, that is, $5 behind us. In the first plan, when we increase our average nightly sales prices above $100 in the short term, it will seriously reflect on package sales. Then it will be better. In other words, the increase in the number of tourists is very important, but the increase in our income is also very valuable. So we need to take it in parallel.”
Pointing out that there are serious tourists from Western Europe, England, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands at the hotels, Kavaloglu stated that there is also a tourist profile from the Middle East who prefer to spend the month of Ramadan in Turkiye.
Pointing out that they expect an active season, Kavaloglu said, “I expect Russia to be number one, Germany number two, and England number three. The European market seems to be much better than last year. Especially all tour operators selling to Turkiye at the moment are on the plus side.”
“2023 season will be full”
The owner of chain hotels, tourism operator Hacı Osman Ucdan, stated that most of their hotels are full and they will spend the 2023 season full.
Stating that the facilities are renewed and offer professional tourism services, Ucdan said, “We will more than reach our target of $60 billion in tourism revenues. Reservations are very good, 65% of early reservations have been sold. We are 100% full in June, July, August, September and October. In fact, in most hotels it will not be possible to find rooms. After that, congress and health tourism starts. Tourism revenues are better than previous years. Quality service, quality price.”
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz