MEDITERRANEAN ACTION PLAN

Rapport de l’Atelier sur le tourisme et le développement durable en Méditerranée
Antaly (Turquie), 17, 18 & 19 septembre 1998
Although the establishment of a tourism policy and the introduction of the state
planing concept to tourism development dates back to 1963, only after the 1980's,
one of the basic strategies of Turkish governments have become the development of
« organised tourism » . In 1980's, tourism was recognised as an important sector
contributing to the economy of the country. The integration of the legislative
improvements with the ongoing physical planning and infrastructure constructions
has been the main drive in the developments achieved in the tourism sector.
However, the powerful climb of tourism was witnessed only after the enactment of
Tourism Encouragement Law in 1982. The incentive measures, which were
brought by this Law, attracted a considerable flow of domestic and foreign
investment to the tourism sector.
In 1980's, Turkey was receiving about 1.5 million tourists per year and tourism
revenues accounted for USD 280 million. The market share was only 0.3 %.
In 1990, Turkey hosted 5.4 million international tourists. The revenue reached to
USD 3.3 billion and the market share to 1.2 %. With an annual rate of growth of
17.6 % between the years 1980 to 1990, Turkey proved to be fastest growing
destination among OECD countries.
In 1997, 9.7 million international tourists visited Turkey marking a 13 % increase
in visitors compared to the previous year. The revenue for 1997 was recorded to be
USD 8.1 billion with a 35.7 % increase compared to 1996. Around 12 million
tourists with USD 9 billion revenue are expected in 1998.
Generally, Turkey's tourism revenues account for about 25 % of the country's total
export earnings and have become the country's second largest industry. The
contribution of tourism to the Turkish economy is gaining more and more
importance. Its foreign currency generating effects and positive impacts on the
employment opportunities make the tourism a very significant sector for Turkey.
The World Tourism Organisation forecasts that in the year 2005, over 20 million
tourists will visit Turkey. The statistical results obtained, by examining the
tourism expenditures rate of growth and economic situations in various countries,
stated that Turkey will be the 11 th in the list of « countries most popular with the
tourists » in 2000's. Therefore, there is a considerable confidence for the future of
Turkish tourism in the world markets.
In order to cope with this increasing demand, the governments in Turkey have
granted generous incentives to prospective investors to invest in building tourism
establishments, mainly accommodation facilities. In 1997, the Ministry of Tourism
statistics showed that there were about 346 000 beds licensed by the Ministry,
indicating their high standards, and over 355 000 beds licensed by the local
authorities. It is estimated that facilities with at least 250 000 beds capacity are
under construction.
Since tourism sector in Turkey is relatively new, this provides us the opportunity
to preserve our natural, cultural, historical and archaeological assets. While
preparing plans for tourism areas, the main aims of tourism policy set by the
Ministry of Tourism are listed below:
• to monitor the use of natural and cultural resources,
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Plan Bleu