29SAYI-DERGI

Kapak Röportajı / Cover Interview
You emphasize the
➧ potential of Turkish
tourism in all platforms
and as an experienced
tourism professional,
you say that you and
your team will write a
new story of tourism
with the new system.
Where are you going to
locate MICE tourism in
this story and what are
your strategic plans to
make sure Turkey once
again becomes a privileged
destination in
this area?
As the Ministry, we
gathered all of our MICE
industry goals and strategies
within the “Turkish
Tourism Strategy
2023” and our Action
Plan. Congress tourism
is considered as an important
headline in both
plans. Our ministry is
financially supporting
various congresses,
symposiums and meetings
which are hosted
in our country. We were
the solution partner of
128 international congresses
in the years of
2015-2017. Hosting the
yearly meetings of international
tour operators,
associations and unions
in our country is especially
important for us.
Through our embassies,
our ministry attends to
the important international
congress exhibitions
which are hosted
in various countries. We
provide an extensive
place for congress tourism
in the Turkey stand
of these exhibitions and
let our industry shareholders
have face to face
meetings with their foreign
colleagues.
You are asking me about
the new story that we
are going to write. I must
primarily state that we
are going to be in more
collaboration and coordination
with the MICE
industry. When we say
tourism, accommodation
and transfer comes
to mind. Our priority is
renewing or rebuilding
qualified tourism facilities
and international
airports of the MICE
tourism regions. We are
of course developing allocations
and promotion
policies for investors.
We will be carrying out
cost/benefit analysis
after the organizations
and create promotion,
planning and application
projects aimed at
our target audience.
Our collaboration with
Turkish Airlines and our
foreign representative
offices are very important
in our promotion.
To be more exact: the
international hosted
buyer program which is
conducted with Turkish
Airlines must be supported
exclusively, so
that more international
congresses, meetings
and events can be organized
in our country.
In addition, it is very
important to support
ACE of M.I.C.E. Exhibition
by Turkish Airlines.
We are also planning to
host important international
companies and
buyers in our country to
let them observe our opportunities.
In addition,
an important part of our
Tourism Development
Fund, which we are
planning to carry out in
2019, will have Business
Travel teams.
We will be giving priority
to the sports, entertainment
and congress
facility types rather than
accommodation in our
allocations in tourism
destinations and make
sure that alternative
tourism types like congress
tourism develop.
“Kongre katılımcılarının
seyahat kültürü ve harcama
potansiyeli oldukça yüksek. Bu
da turizm politikalarımızın
artık bel kemiğini oluşturan
‘nitelikli turist’ hedefimiz için
ideal bir profil.”
“Travel culture and
expenditure potential of
congress attendees are very
high. This is an ideal profile
for our “qualified tourist” goal
which is now the foundation
of our tourism policies.”
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