According to the country’s Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay,Turkey is anticipating 33 million visitors per year by 2012.
It has been revealed that within the first eight months of the year, Turkey attracted over 18 million visitors, accounting for a 1.11% increase from 2008.
Bodrum, Marmars and Fethiye proved particularly popular amongst British tourists, who make up more than half of all visitors to those resorts. Overall, British tourists holidaying in Turkey increased by 11%.
Minister of Culture and Tourism, Ertugrul Gunay, attributed the growth to new investments in tourism giving wider choice and the good value of the Turkish lira.
He said: “Looking ahead, we’re confident that Turkey’s tourism industry is poised for even further growth.”
But the Turkish tourism sector should not be carried away with the thought of making profits in the short term, according to the CEO of travel company Thomas Cook.
Speaking at a meeting in Fethiye, Thomas Cook CEO Manny Fontela said Turkey should take important steps to keep up with its rivals in the tourism sector.
“In 2010, Turkey’s competitors such as Spain, Greece or Tunisia will be more aggressive in the industry,” said Fontela. “Turkey should take serious steps.
“For example, in some airports, city tolls are too high. Lowering those taxes may be an important step.”
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This year has seen some of Turkey’s competitors suffer serious chutes, according to Fontela, who believes that Turkey should turn the situation into a bigger success.
“Greece has slumped 23 percent, while Spain and Tunisia had slides of 10 and 8 percent respectively this year. Turkey can do even better than this,” said Fontela. “Now what the Turkish tourism sector has to do is to steer away from aiming for short-term profits.
“Clients want to know how much they will spend, so they want all-inclusive deals in hotels,” he said. “Turkey has some of the best hotels but tourists are also concerned about towns’ infrastructure and environmental conditions.”
Meanwhile tourism revenues fell 4.6 percent from a year earlier to $9.526 billion in the third quarter, official said, as the economic slowdown continued to hit the sector.
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