Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy: Germany’s target for 2024 is 7 million tourists 7 Million German Tourists
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Ersoy stated that Turkey has a target of 60 million visitors and 60 billion dollars of tourism income this year, and said, “We hope to exceed 7 million (tourists) on a German basis in 2024.”
Minister Ersoy attended the 55th International Tourism Stock Exchange (ITB) Fair held in Berlin, the capital of Germany.
Making a statement to the press about last year’s data and Turkey’s tourism targets, Ersoy said that Turkey closed last year with a record number of visitors and tourism revenues, even though it faced difficulties such as earthquake disasters, wars and the election process.
2024 TOURISM TARGET: 60 MILLION VISITORS AND 60 BILLION DOLLARS REVENUE
Minister Ersoy stated that the 2024 target for tourism is much more ambitious and said, “This year, we have a target of 60 million visitors and 60 billion dollars of income. Hopefully we will exceed this target. The first data has started to arrive from early booking countries. The most important of these is the German market. We closed 2023 with a very ambitious record number. We closed 2023 with 6.2 million visitors from Germany. The initial data is also very, very good. There is an increase of over 20 percent in early bookings. We observe that this number is very high for some operators. “We hope to exceed 7 million in Germany in 2024.” he said.
“AS TURKEY, WE PLAN TO EXCEED 130 DOLLARS IN PER CAPITA EXPENDITURE BY 2028”
Stating that Turkey aims to increase its share of the cake, especially in the European market, Ersoy said:
“In addition, we have added new destinations in the Far Eastern markets to our portfolio as target markets. We had adopted new strategies as of the end of 2018 in order to increase the number of qualified tourists, especially in the European market. We closed 2017 with $65 per capita expenditure. Last year, we increased the per capita expenditure to 99 dollars. We aim for 106 dollars next year. As Turkey, we plan to exceed 130 dollars in per capita spending by 2028. In this context, we aim to enter the market with different product types.
It’s not just sea, sand and sun as it used to be. With the intense promotional power of the Tourism Development Agency, we want to achieve product diversity and also plan to increase the number of target destinations that provide us with passengers and tourists. We started to get successful results. Our country has been promoting tourism intensively in more than 200 countries for the last four years. “We started passenger traffic from all these countries.”
Minister Ersoy emphasized the importance of Turkish Airlines’ direct flights to more than 330 cities.
Ersoy pointed out that they prepared the “Endless Ephesus, A Heritage for the Future” project, which also highlights archeology for the purpose of promoting Turkey, and said that they increased their excavation, restoration and reconstruction budgets, especially at archaeological excavation points, by up to 15-20 times, at varying points depending on the region.
Minister Ersoy explained that very intensive excavation programs have started at 144 different points and that they have gradually started night museology in archaeological areas located in city centers or close to these points.
Ersoy stated that in regions where the temperature is high during the day, an environment where tourists can visit comfortably is created with night museums, so they decided to keep certain museums open until 00:00, and said, “We will gradually shift this system to all our museums that are in demand. This year, we will start at the 15 points that receive the most visitors, hopefully if we can make it. “Then we plan to increase this number gradually,” he said.
“WE STARTED ADDING TURKEY ROUTES TO EUROPEAN CYCLING DESTINATIONS”
Ersoy emphasized that archeology is not sufficient in terms of product diversity and said, “We also prepared our studies on bicycle tours in Germany. We have been working hard especially with the cycling federation here for the last few years, and we have started to add Turkish routes to the European cycling destinations here. We also receive high demand from there. “Actually, an athlete from the German national team will have an event here today,” he said.
Minister Ersoy also noted that Turkey has many gastronomic values and they are trying to promote them.
Stating that Turkey has been included in the Michelin Guide for 3 years, that they started gradually in Istanbul, and that they included Izmir, Çeşme, Urla and Bodrum in this guide as of last year, Ersoy said that Turkey is now a brand in gastronomy. He said that they aim to make it a country and bring gastro styles to the fore, and that this work continues successfully.
“WE AIM TO INCREASE (TOURISM) REVENUE TO 100 BILLION DOLLARS BY 2028”
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy continued his speech by emphasizing that they want to extend the season to 12 months and increase the number of targeted markets by including new products such as faith, nature and sports tourism into the system from now on:
“We hope to crown this with successive records every year. This year, we hope to have a target of 60 million visitors and 60 billion dollars in revenue. We aim to increase (tourism) income to 100 billion dollars by 2028.
“THERE IS A VERY SERIOUS JUMP IN FEBRUARY COMPARED TO LAST YEAR”
The current initial indicators are very, very good for 2024. It has not been announced yet, but I am receiving February data from airports. There is a significant jump in February compared to last year. We will see when the quarterly data is announced at the end of April. March data is even better than February. “Hopefully, if it goes like this, I think it will be a year in which we will exceed our 60 billion dollar revenue target.” 7 Million German Tourists
“Türkiye IS A SHINING STAR IN ESPECIALLY THE GERMANY MARKET”
Stating that Turkey has surpassed Spain and ranked first in early bookings for summer holiday packages in Germany, Ersoy said:
“Of course, we promote very intensively. Türkiye is reaping the rewards of this intense promotion. Türkiye has diversified its products and no longer produces only one product. We have also launched products that suit everyone’s taste and pleasure. In fact, these existed in the past, but they were not introduced in such an intense and detailed manner. Because all these are achieved, Turkey is a shining star, especially in the German market. We have more potential in the German market. We will see this strong growth momentum especially in the German and UK markets. But we do not want it to be limited only to Europe. We especially focused on the American continent. We also focused on Far Asian markets in cultural tours. Hopefully we will see this diversity all over Anatolia.”
Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy stated that Turkey is in the best situation in Europe with the certificates it has regarding sustainability, and added that they are working hard to take this further.
Minister Ersoy then visited the stands of Turkish companies and received information.
BERLIN INTERNATIONAL TOURISM EXCHANGE FAIR
The travel industry, which is in a period of rapid change after Covid-19, comes together at the Berlin International Tourism Exchange Fair (ITB Berlin), one of the largest and most important tourism fairs in the world.
ITB Berlin, held every March in Germany’s capital Berlin, opened its doors this year with the theme “Lead the Transformation in Travel and Tourism Together”.
More than 5,500 companies from 165 countries are expected to attend the fair, which is considered the world’s largest in its field, this year. The fair will continue until March 7.
At the fair, where current trends in the fields of marketing, sales, technology, accommodation and destination management will be featured, technological and ecological challenges will be discussed through events.
In sessions to be held in 17 different areas at the fair, what global tourism can do for sustainability, climate protection and social justice will be evaluated, and challenges such as climate change, the impact of artificial intelligence, the continuing shortage of qualified personnel and the effects of the Covid-19 health crisis on tourism will be discussed. 7 Million German Tourists
In addition to popular travel destinations and the latest innovations in tourism, the fair will also discuss how to deal with crises that affect and will affect tourism in the world.
TURKISH TOURISMISTS AT THE FAIR
This year’s guest country of the fair will be Oman in the Arabian Peninsula. Türkiye was a guest country at ITB in 2010.
Omani artists will present the cultural diversity of their country to the audience coming to the fair in national costumes. The Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra will also give a concert within the scope of the fair.
Approximately 170 thousand people from 186 countries visited the fair last year. The number of visitors is expected to increase further this year.
Representatives from the Turkish tourism sector will also take their place at the fair to showcase innovations and trends. Tourism professionals will explain the country to the German tourism market, one of Turkey’s most important markets, and to guests from other countries. 7 Million German Tourists
Next year, the guest country of ITB Berlin will be Albania.
