Near East University Hospital participated in the ITB Berlin Fair, the world's largest international tourism meeting, in order to contribute to sending qualified tourists from Europe to Northern Cyprus for vacation and health services.
Ahmet Savaşan, General Manager of Near East Tourism Enterprises and Hospital Board Member, together with the KITSAB delegation and tourism professionals, participated in the ITB Berlin Tourism Fair, which hosted 187 countries, 10 thousand 644 exhibitors and 113 thousand tourism professionals, in order to strengthen the perception of the Northern Cyprus tourism brand in Europe and to contribute to increasing the number of tour operators sending qualified tourists to the country.
Ahmet Savaşan, who attended the fair under the umbrella of the TRNC Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture representing the Near East University Hospital, met with tour operators in order to explain on the international platform that Northern Cyprus is a safe tourism destination in terms of tourist health and medical tourism opportunities in addition to its historical, cultural and touristic richness. During his meetings with tourism professionals, Savaşan asked them to direct qualified tourists of the third age group from the aging Europe to our country for both vacation and treatment. Savaşan also met with tourism writers during his stay in Berlin and explained the advantages of Northern Cyprus in the fields of tourism and health.
Turkish State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç visited the Near East University Hospital Stand in Northern Cyprus within the scope of the Fair
Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey Bülent Arınç, who participated in the ITB Berlin fair, visited the Northern Cyprus Stand. During his visit, Ahmet Savaşan, General Manager of NEU Tourism Enterprises and Member of the Board of Directors of the Hospital, explained the activities carried out by NEU Founding Rector Dr. Suat Günsel on the initiative of NEU Founding Rector Dr. Suat Günsel in order to strengthen the tourism brand of Northern Cyprus by bringing “tourist health” to the forefront on the international platform, and provided extensive information about the country's medical tourism opportunities. In addition, support was also requested for increasing Turkey's cooperation with the TRNC in this field.
In his speech at the stand, Bülent Arınç said that they knew the Founding Rector Dr. Suat Günsel well and that he had visited Cyprus in 2011 and had the opportunity to examine NEU Hospital and emphasized that they welcomed the initiative undertaken by NEU Hospital for the development of Northern Cyprus Tourism.
Near East Bank's 1 Million Dollar Insurance for Every Tourist Coming to North Cyprus
Following the protocol signed between Near East University Hospital and NTL Travel for ‘tourist health', a health insurance worth 1 million dollars was made through Near East Bank for each tourist that Germany's important tour operators H&H Tour and Sun Trips will send to Northern Cyprus.
Ahmet Savaşan and Doğan Yalkı, Director of NTL Travel, met with the officials of Germany's leading tour operators H&H Tur and Sun Trips within the scope of the ITB Berlin fair and gave the good news that one million dollars of health insurance is provided for each tourist to be sent to Northern Cyprus. Savaşan and Yalkı also requested from the operators that in 2013, Northern Cyprus should be highlighted not only for its touristic richness but also for the importance it attaches to tourist health.
Number of German Tourists Preferring Northern Cyprus to Increase
In the meetings held with international tour operators within the scope of the fair, the operators noted that following the protocol signed by NEU Hospital with seven tour operators sending tourists to Northern Cyprus for “Tourist Health", Near East Bank's health insurance of one million dollars for each tourist to be brought to Northern Cyprus through NTL Travel will play an important role in the preference of retired German tourists, especially from the third age group, who are thinking of going on vacation to Northern Cyprus.
Compared to 2012, tour operators stated that important steps have been taken to increase the number of tourists going to Northern Cyprus, and with the contribution of the incentives provided by the ministry, high quality brochures have been printed for the promotion of Northern Cyprus and also the advertisements, especially on the internet, have become widespread, and emphasized their belief that the number of German tourists preferring Northern Cyprus will increase in 2013.
Cooperation with the Turkish Cultural and Tourism Attaché Office in Berlin
Ahmet Savaşan, who met with Deniz Kalyoncu from the Consulate General in Berlin and Gözde Şahin, Turkey's Culture and Tourism Attaché in Berlin, within the scope of ITB Berlin Fair contacts, exchanged views on cooperation to better publicize the country's touristic and health opportunities in Germany in order to attract more tourists to Northern Cyprus for treatment as well as vacationing.
