Campaign call from President Erdoğan...

PRESIDENT ERDOĞAN: "WE ARE LAUNCHING THE BRING YOUR NEIGHBOR ALONG CAMPAIGN"

President Erdoğan: "We regard all of our citizens living abroad as honorary tourism ambassadors of our country at the same time. For this reason, I invite our citizens living abroad to take a vacation in our country in addition to their visits home to see family. Our citizens who come to their family homes and visit their relatives should devote at least one week of their leave to tourism as well, with the mindset of 'Turkey is our home, let us get to know our homeland.' Of course, I want our citizens not only to come themselves, but also to invite their neighbors, friends and acquaintances in the countries where they live to our country. It is for this reason that we are launching the 'Bring Your Neighbor Along Campaign' aimed at our citizens abroad."

Minister Avcı: "The world is going through a difficult period under the threat of global terrorism. Unfortunately, the repercussions of this global problem are also being seen in our country. We are taking, and will continue to take, the necessary measures so that the tourism sector can overcome the difficult times it experienced in 2016 as soon as possible."

Minister Avcı: "Considering our state's 2023 targets, our tourism sector has already achieved our goal of entering the top ten countries in the world. The number of tourists, which was 13 million in 2002, reached 40 million by 2015."

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with sector representatives at the "Meeting with Tourism Sector Representatives" program held at the Presidential Complex.

In his speech there, President Erdoğan stated that it can be seen that tourism culture is gradually spreading in Turkey as well, and that it has become evident what kind of activity citizens engage in with regard to tourism during mid-term holidays.

Explaining that this situation particularly pleases them, Erdoğan said: "All of these are matters that give us reason to be hopeful for the future of the sector. Of course, the way to make the most of these opportunities is through developing new strategies, finding paths, methods and tools, and organizing campaigns. As a first step, we intend to begin by increasing the number of tourists by 8 million. We are determined in this. We must take this step all together."

President Erdoğan announced that, for this purpose, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has launched a campaign in cooperation with the sector, under his personal patronage.

Emphasizing that he wanted to address tourism professionals as well as all tourists, whether domestic or foreign, Erdoğan said: "Turkey is the country of the most beautiful seas, mountains, rivers, lands, trees, sunshine, foods, fruits, and the warmest, most heartfelt smiles; in short, of the most beautiful times that can be experienced on earth. Turkey is a special country with its history, geography and people. Our people, our lands and our genes have such a quality, and you cannot easily find this elsewhere. Our country is the world's largest open-air museum, from Ephesus to Cappadocia, from Sümela to Ani, from Hagia Sophia and Nemrut to Mevlana, from Selimiye to İshak Pasha. From Edirne to Kars, from Sinop to Antalya, from Diyarbakır to İzmir, each and every city of Turkey possesses its own distinct beauties. My country is a land of extraordinary riches that will appeal to and attract everyone, regardless of nation, faith or language. We have such a country."

Pointing out that east and west, north and south, the authentic and the modern, the past and the future, the sea and the mountain, mosaic and tile, the ney and the kemençe, the thermal spa and skiing, and many more, can be found together only in Turkey, President Erdoğan said: "We invite you to experience all these beauties in our country."

"This Mobilization That Has Been Launched Must Be Grown Wave by Wave Through Joint Effort"

Stating that there are currently 5 million Turkish citizens living abroad, Erdoğan noted that there are also 3.5 million citizens who, after living abroad for a time, returned to Turkey and continue their lives in Turkey but still maintain their connections abroad.

Pointing out that this beautiful tradition of citizens coming to their country each year to visit family is exceptionally valuable and must absolutely continue, President Erdoğan recalled the verses of the poet Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı's poem titled "Memleket İsterim" ("I Want a Homeland"): "I want a homeland where the sky is blue, the branch is green, the field is yellow; let it be the land of birds and flowers. I want a homeland with neither sorrow in the head nor longing in the heart; I want a homeland where living, like loving, comes from the heart."

Expressing that no citizen, wherever they may go in the world, severs their bond with Turkey for this reason, President Erdoğan continued his speech as follows:

"We regard all of our citizens living abroad as honorary tourism ambassadors of our country at the same time. For this reason, I invite our citizens living abroad to take a vacation in our country with their families, in addition to their visits home to see family. Our citizens who come to their family homes and visit their relatives should devote at least one week of their leave to tourism as well, with the mindset of 'Turkey is our home, let us get to know our homeland.' Of course, I want our citizens not only to come themselves, but also to invite their neighbors, friends and acquaintances in the countries where they live to our country. It is for this reason that we are launching the 'Bring Your Neighbor Along Campaign' aimed at our citizens abroad.

Turkey amply possesses the beauties that will lead our citizens abroad to tell everyone around them, 'Turkey is the most hospitable country in the world, come for a vacation too.' I believe that none of our citizens will be put to shame before the neighbor, friend or acquaintance they bring to our country; let no one have any doubt about this."

For his part, Minister of Culture and Tourism Nabi Avcı stated in his speech that Turkey carries great tourism potential with its diverse historical and cultural riches and natural beauties.

Explaining that Turkey has written an important success story in the tourism sector over the past 15 years, Minister Nabi Avcı said: "Considering our state's 2023 targets, our tourism sector has already achieved our goal of entering the top 10 countries in the world. The number of tourists, which was 13 million in 2002, reached 40 million by 2015."

Stating that tourism revenue also rose from 15.5 billion dollars to around 31.5 billion dollars over the same period, Minister Avcı said: "The ratio of tourism revenues to covering the current account deficit has reached 80 percent, the ratio to covering the foreign trade deficit 42 percent, and its share in total exports 22 percent; the tourism sector has become a strategically important sector of our country, employing 1.5 million of our people."

"We Continue to Provide Support"

Emphasizing that as a country we are going through a very important period and are waging great struggles in every field, Minister Avcı said the following:

"Our greatest strength is the support we receive from our nation, which believes in democracy. The world is going through a difficult period under the threat of global terrorism. Unfortunately, the repercussions of this global problem are also being seen in our country. We are taking, and will continue to take, the necessary measures so that the tourism sector can overcome the difficult times it experienced in 2016 as soon as possible.

In this context, under the Tourism Emergency Action Plan Support Package put into effect by our government in 2016, we provided per-flight support to Group A travel agencies bringing tourists to Turkey, and we continue to do so. We provided Group A travel agencies bringing tourists to Turkey with the opportunity to use loans backed by Credit Guarantee Fund collateral, and we continue to do so. We obtained a board decision from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency regarding the application of the provisioning regulation. We opened the way for marine tourism facilities certified by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to benefit from the incentives of the Ministry of Economy. We ensured that accommodation and tourism facilities certified by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism are deemed exporters. We deferred the 2016 payments of ecrimisil (occupancy fee) charges for accommodation facilities certified by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and arranged for them to be paid in three equal installments."

Noting that they also deferred the 2016 payments of rental charges collected from accommodation facilities allocated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and arranged for them to be paid in three equal installments, Minister Avcı said: "In the same way, we deferred the 2016 payments of charges collected on the total turnover of allocated accommodation facilities and arranged for them to be paid in three equal installments."

Sharing the information that they thereby provided 1 billion 168 million lira in support to the tourism sector in 2016 alone, Minister Nabi Avcı emphasized that they provided a significant incentive to the sector, particularly through the per-aircraft support given to tour operators bringing tourists to Turkey.

Minister Avcı announced that they would continue this practice in 2017 as well, further expanding its scope.

Minister Nabi Avcı noted that he wholeheartedly believes that the "Grand Tourism Campaign" they will launch in 2017, which includes significant advantages both for citizens at home and abroad and for foreign tourists, will bring tourism to the levels it deserves as soon as possible.
(Source: AA)
(02.02.2017)