Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy unveils Türkiye's 2023 Tourism Strategy at Istanbul's Dolmabahçe Palace...

On September 27, World Tourism Day, Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy unveiled Türkiye's 2023 Tourism Strategy at a meeting held with domestic and foreign members of the press and leading representatives of our country's sector at Istanbul's Dolmabahçe Palace. At the meeting, which was also attended by TÜROB President Müberra Eresin and members of the TÜROB Board of Directors, Minister Ersoy also screened Türkiye's new 2020 advertising films, developed in line with the approaches set out in the strategy and to be used in promoting Türkiye abroad.

The 2023 Tourism Strategy, which moves Turkish tourism toward a sustainable, revenue-focused growth model, aims for Türkiye to welcome more than 75 million tourists and reach tourism revenue of 65 billion dollars in 2023 as a result of the work to be carried out and the multifaceted new practices to be implemented.

The 2023 Tourism Strategy, drawing on the targets within the 11th Development Plan and the outcomes of the 3rd Tourism Council, outlines the path leading to the major transformation and progress expected in Türkiye's tourism sector. At his press conference, Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy described Türkiye's 2023 Tourism Strategy as follows:

Türkiye Will Move Up to a Higher League in Tourism

"Türkiye is a global brand offering an extraordinary diversity of travel opportunities capable of meeting the changing expectations of today's tourists. By implementing the new strategies set out in the 2023 Tourism Strategy, we will move our country up to a higher league in the global tourism market in terms of the number of tourists it welcomes and the revenue it earns. In 2023, we aim for more than 75 million tourists to visit our country and to earn 65 billion dollars in tourism revenue. We plan to do this by increasing the average spending per tourist and raising the average number of overnight stays to the ideal of 10, reaching an average spending level of 86 dollars per night."

A Sustainable Approach in Promotional Activities

The single-agency model for tourism promotion and development, which has been operating for many years in countries that are our competitors in tourism worldwide, has been put into practice for our country. With the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, the sector's active participation in tourism promotion has been made possible, and the expansion of budget resources has paved the way for sustainable and effective promotion. We increased the ministry's promotional budget, which was 18 million dollars in 2018, to 72 million dollars with the policy change we introduced in 2019. In 2020, together with our Ministry and the newly established Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, we aim to bring the promotional budget to 180 million dollars.

We aim to close the gap that exists relative to the large promotional budgets used by our competitor countries for the work they have produced through the investments they have made over many years, by means of the increases we will make each year. In line with this goal, we will work to reach a promotional budget of 220 million dollars in 2023. With the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, the more we promote, the more we will increase our tourism revenue, and the more our revenue grows, the more we will expand our promotional budget.

Diversification of Promotion

In line with these goals, we are carrying out our promotional activities in a focused and intensified manner, diversifying them across TV, outdoor, magazine, editorial articles, and digital and social media channels. We commission market research to reach the expectations of visitors in target markets, and in line with this research we diversify our promotional strategy and take part across all channels. We are prioritizing the launch of an experience-based Türkiye portal and digital applications.

In addition to foreign visitors, we will carry out promotional efforts aimed at domestic visitors in order to develop domestic tourism. We will focus on new product and destination work, above all in underexplored or developing tourism regions.

In this context, we also aim to ensure supply security and bring package tour rates down to a band of 15 to 60 percent.

Diversification of the Tourism Product and Target Audience

We also aim for an increase in the proportion of visitors with high spending potential. To this end, we will develop new products. We will address gastronomy promotion under a separate heading. We will add new ones to our cities registered as brand cities by UNESCO. We will produce a 'Türkiye Flavor Map' and create gastronomy routes. We will take steps to grow cultural tours and health tourism and to raise tourists' shopping expenditures. We will focus on many areas, from educational tourism to sports, from faith tourism to the third-age target audience, and from congress tourism to festivals and events as well as cruise-yacht tourism. We will continue to open new museums across Türkiye. We will increase the number of our entries on the UNESCO World Heritage Lists. We will create new cultural routes and routes for off-road and on-road cycling tourism. At the same time, we will increase the number of our 'Bicycle-Friendly Hotels.' Keeping digitalization at the foundation of all our work, we will give the new-generation tourist the entire experience they seek before their journey begins. For faith tourism, we will launch the Türkiye Digital Faith Map and the Faith Portal."

New Focus Markets

In the period ahead, alongside our main markets that still send large numbers of tourists to our country, in promotion we will focus on rising markets such as China, India, South Korea, and Japan in the Far East and Pacific Regions, which stand out as source markets in global tourism growth. The developing economies of Central and Eastern Europe will also be included among our new focus markets.

To increase the number of tourists from Far East and Pacific countries, appropriate arrangements will be made in transportation, capacity, and direct flights. We anticipate that the number of tourists from the Asia-Pacific Region will increase by an annual average of more than 30 percent between 2018 and 2023. We aim for the approximately 1 million tourists expected from the Far Asia and Oceania Region in 2019 to reach 4 million in 2023.

All the countries THY flies and will fly to are now our target market. We are making reciprocal additional slot commitments with China, Japan, India, and South Korea. We will continue to increase our joint advertising and marketing activities with THY. We will achieve an increase in independent travel to Türkiye.

Sustainable, Environmentally Friendly Development in Tourism

We are accelerating our efforts for sustainable and environmentally friendly development in tourism. In this context, we are supporting municipalities by placing particular importance on treatment-plant investments in coastal towns that have been declared tourism areas. In the period ahead, we will place much greater emphasis on environmental certifications such as the Blue Flag and the Green Star application at facilities."

Promotional Film Highlights the Richness of Experience Türkiye Offers in Tourism

At his press conference, Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy also shared with participants the new advertising film that will be used in 2020 and will form the basis of the promotional campaign.

With a striking narrative, the film conveys that Türkiye is an ideal address where today's visitors can experience the authentic travel and discovery they seek. The film also emphasizes that Türkiye is a sought-after destination for family travel.

The 90-second Türkiye promotional film, which has 3 separate versions for screening in the Western, Asian, and Far Eastern markets, highlights both Türkiye's contemporary face and its cultural richness and depth. Conveying experience-focused travel with an innovative and distinctive approach, the film features Türkiye's nature, history, cultural treasures, faith sites, gastronomy, and its worlds of shopping, fashion, art, and entertainment.

The New Promotional Film Was Prepared Over a Two-Month Effort

The new advertising film, introduced at the press conference held by Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, was completed over a two-month effort by a team of 98 people, with filming carried out in 5 separate cities at a total of eleven separate locations.

For Türkiye's new promotional film, filming was carried out at Turunçpınarı, Cennet Koyu, Babadağ, Patara, Kekova, Cappadocia Balloon, the Dark Church at the Göreme Open-Air Museum, the Kaş road, Hierapolis, and in Istanbul. In addition, drone footage was shot of the Butterfly Valley, Yassıca Island, Suluada, the Göcek Coves, the Kaş-Fethiye road, and Ölüdeniz. Along with the main promotional film, 19 short films of the kind frequently encountered on digital channels were also created. The short films, edited as 10- to 15-second stories, will be broadcast not only on social media channels but also on television channels around the world in the style of 'serial advertisements.' The new promotional film, in all its versions, will form the basis of the integrated marketing campaign the Ministry will conduct in 2020. In addition to the films, the Ministry will run a 360-degree communication campaign consisting of public relations efforts designed uniquely for each market, new-generation digital applications, online and print advertisements, fairs, and special events.