Happy World Tourism Day, September 27!

Today, in addition to being the world's third-largest export sector after chemicals and fuels, the tourism sector has become an important tool for raising countries' levels of prosperity through the contributions it makes to the economy and to employment. The scale of global tourism and its impact on many other sectors are coming to the fore more and more each day. With its dynamic and multifaceted structure, tourism is not only the greatest and most impartial force uniting the world and societies, but also the sector in which friendship and togetherness are most emphasized, eliminating borders and differences.

Türkiye, with its position bridging two continents, its culture, natural beauty and historical heritage, as well as the human resources and tourism infrastructure facilities it possesses, has become one of the world's largest tourism centers. Acting with an awareness of our country's great potential and accumulated experience in the field of tourism, our Association, with the aim of providing high-quality human resources to meet the sector's employment needs, has, with the support of our Ministry of Culture and Tourism and in cooperation with our Ministry of National Education, had the name of Şişli Kervansaray Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School changed to TÜROB 50th Anniversary Şişli Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School. With this important step, we have opened a new page in the education of our students studying in the fields of Accommodation and Food and Beverage Services. Our young people will be trained as individuals who understand that tourism is a very important field of work and appreciate the value of being part of it, who speak at least 3 languages, and who, having received 6 months of intensive skills training, are ready for the sector with their experience as much as their theoretical knowledge. We believe that the senior executives and general managers of the future will emerge from the graduates of this school.

It is our most important duty to embrace the culture of tourism and travel, which offers the opportunity to get to know and explore the world and opens the doors of empathy and tolerance free from our prejudices, and to adopt a management approach grounded in an awareness of sustainability and responsibility. We aim to strengthen local communities and culture, to develop effective resource management, and to bring tourism, together with broader segments of society, toward sustainable development goals.

With these feelings and thoughts, we hope for a world tourism in which ethical rules prevail and which can always act on conscientious principles, in a world order where human life and a sustainable environment are held to the highest level in every field. On my own behalf and on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Association of Turkish Hoteliers, we congratulate all the workers, stakeholders and colleagues who put their efforts into the tourism sector, from hoteliers to agents, from guides to transporters, on World Tourism Day, September 27!

Müberra ERESİN

President of TÜROB - the Association of Turkish Hoteliers