First statement from the Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy regarding the Tourist Guide Profession Law Tourist Guidance from Minister Ersoy
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy made statements regarding the Tourist Guide Professional Law at Istanbul Airport before his visit to Venice.
Regarding the change made in the field of tourist guidance, Minister Ersoy said, “We have brought a privilege for Turkish citizens. Knowing Turkish is enough. “In other words, guides for Turkish citizens no longer need to know a foreign language.”
Regarding the regulation made in the field of khanut, Ersoy said; “We have made some arrangements in the law, and if necessary, we will make other arrangements in the future,” he said.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy’s statements regarding the Tourist Guide Profession Law are as follows:
Of course, the law contained a few important changes. The most important change is that some decisions regarding guidance and implementation are returned to the authority of the Ministry. Apart from that, a regulation has been introduced especially regarding foreign language exams. Now, it is done based on ÖSYM exams based on the criteria in ÖSYM.
The most important point, one of the changes is Turkish guidance.
People who have completed guidance training take the language exam after successfully passing the exams. The results of whichever languages they are successful in are recorded on their cockade, and the citizens of that country can guide the citizens of the country speaking that language in the languages specified in their cockade.
“WE BROUGHT A PRIVILEGE FOR TURKISH CITIZENS”
So, if it is written in English, they can guide citizens of English-speaking countries. If it says they speak German, they guide citizens of German-speaking countries.
We brought a privilege for Turkish citizens. Knowing Turkish is enough. In other words, guides for Turkish citizens no longer need to know a foreign language. It is sufficient that they only know Turkish, speak their native language, and have completed guidance-related training. There is no need to explain to any Turkish group in English, there is no need to explain in French, there is no need to explain in German. If he writes only in Turkish, he can only appear in Turkish groups. If it says only Turkish, you cannot join a foreign group. If something like that happens, your license will be canceled by law. You can’t guide again anyway. This is already being checked in detail.
“WE WILL FIGHT THE NECESSARY WAR RESISTANTLY”
New sanctions were introduced, including the revocation of the guidance license regarding Hanutism and fines. This is one of the most sensitive issues. Unfortunately, in tourism, in the language that the public can understand, let’s say brokerage, the guide community is called hanutism, unfortunately this is very common. One of the biggest dangers of tourism. There is no such thing in any of the developed tourism countries, but unfortunately it exists very intensively in our country. We want to fight them very effectively. We see it as one of the biggest obstacles to tourism. We have made some regulations in the law, and if necessary, we will make other regulations in the future. Turkish tourism definitely needs to solve the problem of hanut farming in this period. It is an issue that we attach the most importance to and unfortunately, we are very sensitive about it because it is a subject that is handled through guides.
There is no tourism this way. This kind of tourism is not done in any developed country in the world. It should not be done in our country either. They also cause great harm to tradesmen and prevent the fair distribution of income, and this is one of the main issues we need to fight against in tourism. We will fight the necessary war persistently.
As you know, we rose to the 4th place in terms of the number of tourists. Our goal is to be among the top 3 in the world. Here are the rules for the top 5, 6, 7 countries in the world, which are generally Western countries, and we are trying to bring our rules to the same level as them. We make regulations very quickly. There have been many innovations recently, not only in the regulations regarding guidance, but also in the regulation of tourism residences and the certification of accommodation facilities. Of course, their adaptation, regulation and harmonization is a process. We, as Turkey, aim to complete this process in a short time and bring our country to the level of the countries that receive tourists in the 60 million – 100 million band, which we see as competitors. Tourist Guidance from Minister Ersoy
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