Within the scope of the Global Tourism Forum Bodrum Summit, hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Bodrum Municipality, important names of tourism came together with a hybrid event, physically and via video, to talk about the situation of the industry during the coronavirus process.
The World Tourism Forum Bodrum Summit, hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Bodrum Municipality, was held with the participation of important local and foreign names.
Speaking at the opening of the summit, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Nadir Alpaslan said, “As of today, there are over 10 thousand certified tourism areas. More than 5 thousand of our hotels have received certificates. This will make it permanent. Even if we get rid of Covid-19, the world will not be the old world. Tourism and holiday habits will change.”
Stating that they ensured the healthy progress of the process thanks to the certificate program, Alpaslan said that they implemented the certificate program from hotels to airports and travel agencies.
Explaining that people saw the importance of taking a vacation and traveling again during the epidemic process, Alpaslan said, “With the epidemic decreasing to a certain level, the mobility in tourism will continue intensely. We must take our measures as both the country and tourism investors regarding this new period.”
“THE WAY OUT IN TOURISM DEPENDS ON INCREASED VACCINATION RATE”
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who participated in the meeting via video conference, emphasized the importance of Turkey’s intensive vaccination campaign and showed the spread of the vaccine as the emergence of tourism, which is one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic.
Blair also noted that there are great losses in global trade and tourism, that those working in tourism are out of their jobs, and that one of the important losses is the “breakdown of international communication between countries due to the cessation of tourism.”
Stating that it is the right time to discuss what needs to be done for the tourism sector, Blair emphasized the statement, “The most important way out of the tourism sector, like the whole world, in the Covid-19 process, is to increase the vaccination rates on a global scale.”
Pointing out the importance of agreeing on the common rules on the travel card showing the test and vaccination status, Blair stated that there was a need for “a system in which vaccines made to industry employees can be verified” for the resumption of tourism.
“BODRUM IS AN IDEAL PLACE FOR FOREIGN DIGITAL NOMINALS”
Bodrum Mayor Ahmet Aras, who hosted the program, stated that a great change and transformation process started in the tourism industry after Covid-19, and the most striking of these processes was digital migration.
Noting that people now go out of their region and continue their business and social life with digital conveniences from here, Aras said that 17 million digital nomads around the world stay in cities such as Singapore, Bali, Budapest and Prague.
Reminding that the population of Bodrum also tripled during the epidemic period, Aras said, “As Bodrum, our target is also foreign digital nomads. Bodrum, the center of safe holidays, is ready to host these nomads.”
TARGET IS 12 MONTHS TOURISM, 2.5 MILLION TOURISTS
Ahmet Aras said that Bodrum, which has improved its facilities thanks to its air and sea ambulance, fully equipped hospitals, sufficient bed capacity, advanced infrastructure and travel security, has increased its potential to host tourism at any time of the year.
Aras said, “We aim to spread tourism in Bodrum to 12 months, thus reaching 2.5 million tourists and $5 billion in revenue. We are working for this purpose.”
“WE WANT TO MAKE BODRUM THE WORLD’S BLUE DAVOS”
Stressing that Bodrum deserves to be respected more with all its values in the European and world tourism league, Aras said;
“We want to make Bodrum an exemplary brand city. We want to make it one of the centers of glocalization, which we call global localization.
Bodrum attracts the attention of the world and this interest is increasing day by day. It hosts international economic and tourism forums. Major congress and port organizations take place here. Thanks to this potential, serious foreign currency income is provided. We want to expand Bodrum with its international dimension and diversify the attraction elements in the city. We want to attract local and foreign investors and tourists here.”
Ahmet Aras said, “We want to make Bodrum the Blue Davos of the world and today we host the World Tourism Forum for this purpose.”
Source: NTV / Translated by Irem Yildiz