The EMITT Tourism Fair has opened in Istanbul...
A meaningful message from the UNWTO at EMITT!
The speech by World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary-General Taleb Rifai left its mark on the EMITT opening ceremony. Praising Turkey's position in tourism, Rifai said, “Turkey, which ranks 6th in world tourism rankings, will continue to rise despite everything. Keep travelling to Turkey. This is necessary for the good of us all; the more we travel, the better people we become.”
The Eastern Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Fair - EMITT opened its doors for the 21st time. At the opening ceremony, Minister of Culture and Tourism Nabi Avcı, Istanbul Governor Vasip Şahin, Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Kadir Topbaş, United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary-General Taleb Rifai, HOTREC President Susanne Kraus Winkler and DRV President Norbert Fiebig each delivered a speech. At the ceremony, the Tourism Ministers of Tunisia, Macedonia, Palestine and the TRNC were also present, while the presidents and board members of tourism sector professional organizations attended in large numbers.
EMITT WILL BE THE PLATFORM OF THE 2017 RISE
Hacer Aydın, Group Director of ITE Tourism & Travel, which organizes the fair, said in her opening speech, recalling that Turkey had a difficult year in tourism last year, “2017 will be a year of rise, and EMITT will be the platform of this rise. What does not kill us makes us stronger.”
Hacer Aydın said that EMITT featured 450 tour operators from 80 countries and hundreds of participants from 81 provinces and districts.
GERMANY WILL NOT GIVE UP ON TURKEY
German Travel Association (DRV) President Norbert Fiebig, beginning his speech by emphasizing that tourism is encountering new challenges as it develops and grows worldwide, said, “The whole world is in a state of change, and we do not yet know whether the situation will turn for the better or worse for the travel sector. Our customers now make their choices taking political and ethical issues into account as well when deciding on the trip they will take.” Underlining that Germany and Turkey are two countries that have been closely bound to each other for many years, Fiebig noted that Germany would not give up on Turkey in tourism. Fiebig said:
“5.5 million German tourists came to Turkey in 2015. Turkey currently ranks 3rd in the German market. In terms of price-performance ratio, it also offers opportunities that no other destination in the world can offer. However, in 2016, despite the fact that, as Germans and as Turks, we did everything we could to influence developments positively, we had a bad year. We experienced very obvious losses. This situation stands before us and challenges us.”
Stating that a period was being experienced in which an increasing number of German travellers were once again choosing Turkey, Fiebig expressed that we need to do everything we can for this to continue. Fiebig said, “We must do everything we can and use every opportunity to restore tourism to its former strength. Turkey is still a strong destination in the German market. Our traditional cooperation comes to the fore even more in times of crisis. I thank everyone who contributes to this friendly and reassuring cooperation.”
HOTREC: WE STAND BY YOU IN THESE DIFFICULT DAYS
The President of the European Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes Association (HOTREC), Susanne Klaus Winkler, emphasizing that they are aware Turkish tourism is going through very difficult days, said, “As HOTREC and all its members, we will do everything we can to support you. We will never leave the Turkish tourism professionals, who are a part of our family, alone.”
A MEANINGFUL SPEECH FROM THE UNWTO PRESIDENT
The speech delivered by United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary-General Taleb Rifai left its mark on the ceremony. Beginning his speech by expressing the pleasure he felt at being in Istanbul, Rifai noted that the fair, held for the 21st time this year, was a success story.
Expressing that the world is going through challenging times, Rifai said, “Natural disasters, economic crises, climate change, terror. But we still live in a beautiful world. Do not let the news demoralize you every morning. Let our optimism overcome all the darkness. Because this is a beautiful world and it will keep getting better.”
Rifai continued his speech as follows: “These days, we are becoming more connected to one another and thinking about one another more. In the past, we could not get news of one another and did not care about one another. Just as the girls kidnapped in Nigeria are my siblings, so too are the people who died in the New Year's attack in Istanbul my siblings. No country now has to deal with these problems on its own. No country in the world can be 100 percent isolated from terror. For this reason, we must fight together. Tourism has now become a right, a way of life. That is why dark forces attack tourism.
While only 25 million tourists travelled in the world in the 1950s, in 2016 1 billion 200 million people are making international trips. This is a revolution and it cannot be stopped. Dark forces target airports, train stations, restaurants and museums. Because they want to stop this tourism movement. Tourism makes a great contribution to the economy and employment all over the world. One out of every 11 jobs is related to tourism. In this troubled period we are passing through, tourism has been deeply wounded in many countries. This situation greatly affects the country's economy and employment as well. The terrorists target our economy, our political stance and our cultural ties.
After the Atatürk Airport attack, there were two important things that deserved praise: First, airport operations returned to normal after 8 hours. This was a slap in the face of the terrorists. Second, Russia's decision that afternoon to lift the flight ban on Turkey. This is exactly what needs to be done. They want us to stop travelling, to grow distant from one another. We must absolutely not allow this; we must always be prepared for every scenario and quickly ensure that life returns to normal.
This struggle must be carried out on a global scale. We must not point fingers at one another and say ‘you are not doing it right’; we must roll up our sleeves and seek solutions together. Source countries must stop scolding destinations and must support these countries.
TRAVEL BANS MUST BE LIFTED
We also need to talk about travel bans. With the current practices, travel advisories are once again punishing the destinations that have already suffered. We must not give the terrorists what they want; we must find a solution to this problem intelligently.
Turkey is a very successful tourism destination. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. We are proud of you, and you should be proud of yourselves too. I make this call to everyone: Keep travelling to Turkey. This will produce better results not only for Turkey but for the entire world. The more we travel, the better people we become. Whatever the state of our lives, our fundamental task must always be to make this world a better place. If we do not contribute to this, nothing else matters.”
A STAND AGAINST TERROR
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Kadir Topbaş, drawing attention to Istanbul's development in tourism, expressed his wish that this fair too would be a stand against the negative developments in tourism. Topbaş said, “In these days when the economy is contracting, as a stand against terror we must encourage people to go out, to shop, to travel. This is also a very valuable stand against terror.”
Istanbul Governor Vasip Şahin gave a message similar to Topbaş's. Şahin stated the following: “I thank everyone very much for their participation, which gives a message of unity and solidarity from Istanbul to both Turkey and the world, and which is a challenge to terror. As Istanbul, the cradle of civilizations, we are doing everything we can to develop our capacity. Istanbul most recently received a number of tourists approaching 13 million. However, this figure is not enough for us. Istanbul's target is a minimum of 30 million. We have the capacity to host this many people. To this end, we are carrying out intensive work to develop the city's infrastructure. Even though we have certain conjunctural risks, we possess great potential. The danger we face is valid everywhere in the world. Despite everything we have been through, we are still witnessing significant tourism activity. We are doing everything we can to increase this figure, and we will continue to do so.”
THANKS FROM MINISTER AVCI
Minister of Culture and Tourism Nabi Avcı thanked UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai very much and gave a short speech. Avcı said, “Whenever something bad happens to us, the first to support us is Taleb Rifai. It is Mr. Rifai who, after the terror attacks we experienced, said ‘Now is the time to travel to Turkey’; who called me on the day of the coup attempt to remind me of our appointment in Madrid; and who, by issuing a call to the world media in Madrid, gave us the opportunity to explain what was really happening in Turkey. For this reason, I thank him very much.”