The U.S. tourism market is on the rise...

Müberra Eresin, President of the Association of Turkish Hoteliers (TÜROB), said they expect the easing of the travel advisory for Türkiye to have a positive impact on tourism relations with the United States. Eresin stated that reaching 1 million people in the U.S. market within 2-3 years is possible.

The easing of the advisory regarding Türkiye in the travel advisories that the U.S. regularly issues for its citizens created satisfaction among tourism professionals. In her assessment of the matter, Müberra Eresin, President of the Association of Turkish Hoteliers (TÜROB), said they expect this decision to have a positive impact on our tourism relations with the United States. Recalling that the number of tourists from the U.S. reached a record 798 thousand people in 2015, Eresin said: "However, a decline began starting in 2016. In 2016, 459 thousand, in 2017, 329 thousand, and in 2018, 448 thousand U.S. tourists visited our country. In the January-July period of this year, a significant increase of 33 percent was recorded in this market, with 331 thousand U.S. tourists arriving."

It will have a positive impact on cultural and congress tourism

Eresin stated that the previous level could be reached again in this market starting in 2020, and that surpassing the 1 million threshold within 2-3 years is also possible. Noting that U.S. tourists have a high level of spending and generally come for cultural and congress tourism, Eresin said: "We particularly experience difficulties with the participation of Americans in events such as international congresses and meetings held in our country. We believe that with this decision, an important step has been taken toward overcoming this difficulty."

The same level as Europe

The day before yesterday, the U.S. updated its travel advisory for Türkiye, and in the advisory issued by the U.S. Department of State, Türkiye's category was lowered from 3 to 2. In a statement made from the official Twitter account of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, it was noted that the travel advisory for Türkiye had been updated, indicating that the travel advisory for Türkiye was now at level 2, like that of many European countries such as Germany, France and the United Kingdom. In other words, this placed Türkiye in the same category as major European countries such as Germany, France and the United Kingdom. It is stated that among the travel advisories that the U.S. defines at 4 different levels, level 4 is the riskiest and level 1 is the least risky.