Tourism Minister Ataoğlu, Tolun and Savaşan evaluated the country's tourism.

Tourism was discussed

Tourism Minister Ataoğlu, KITSAB President Orhan Tolun and Health Tourism Council President Ahmet Savaşan evaluated the country's tourism in the television program they attended.

Stating that the number of tourists coming from Turkey is lower than desired, Ataoğlu said, “In the research we conducted when we first came to the Ministry, we saw that the number of tourists coming to our island from Turkey was not at a satisfactory level and we started to work on how we could increase this number. We came together with stakeholders, we held many meetings and we saw that we need to promote in Turkey. As a requirement of this, we have planned promotional activities in coordination with the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism to promote our country in many areas from tourism to health, from health to construction in 9 different regions across Turkey.”.

July 15th crippled our promotional activities...

Explaining that the promotional activities in Turkey were planned very comprehensively, but the July 15 attempt and the Syrian incidents have hampered these activities, Ataoğlu said that Turkey promotions will be launched as soon as possible.

Stating that he took the nine-day holiday proposal to the Council of Ministers himself, Minister Ataoğlu said that there were unwanted events in Turkey and that these events negatively affected TRNC Tourism and expressed his belief that the nine-day holiday will make a significant contribution to tourism.

Promotional activities will be increased outside Turkey...

Stating that work has been initiated to prepare special packages for tourists coming from Turkey, Ataoğlu emphasized that special campaigns will be organized together with the sector in order to bring more tourists from Turkey to our country and that the tourism revenues lost in recent months will be tried to increase. Ataoğlu also said that promotional activities will start in many countries, especially Germany, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia.

TRNC counter opened at Ataturk Airport...

After July 15, Ataoğlu mentioned that the demand for the TRNC to be treated like domestic flights was not sufficiently understood by various segments and reiterated that this application was considered both to facilitate arrivals from Turkey to the TRNC and to reduce ticket prices. Emphasizing that July 15 also had a negative impact on TRNC arrivals, Ataoğlu stated that in order to eliminate this negativity, a TRNC counter was opened at Istanbul Atatürk Airport with the contributions of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Responsible for Cyprus Affairs Tuğrul Türkeş and Nabi Avcı. Stating that travel to TRNC was made easier thanks to this counter, Ataoğlu added that they have made an initiative to spread this application to other terminals in Turkey.

The aim is to cheapen the tickets.

Emphasizing that one of the main reasons why they want Ercan to be treated as domestic flights is that the flights will be categorized as domestic flights and taxes and fees such as accommodation will be reduced for a certain period of time, Ataoğlu said that with the application under consideration, TRNC flights will be made from the international terminal as usual, but domestic rules will apply in taxes and other items. Explaining that this application is thought to be valid for a period of 3-6 months, Ataoğlu stated that it is roughly calculated that this will cost Turkey and TRNC 11 million.

Underlining that there is no problem in coming to our country for congresses, Ataoğlu said that it is enough to report the names of the people who will attend the congress to the TRNC counter in Turkey.

Important steps are being taken with THY...

Explaining that the negotiations with the Turkish authorities have gone extremely well and that they have taken measures for the winter, Ataoğlu stated that important progress has been made in terms of starting Turkey-bound flights to Northern Cyprus, especially to Scandinavian countries and Scotland with Turkish Airlines. Ataoğlu also emphasized that it is also planned to bring passengers to TRNC without getting off the plane on flights from these countries.

On May 1, Ataoğlu said that flights to Diyarbakır and then Ordu were launched, and that they are also working on flights to new destinations.

Tickets are targeted to be reduced by 100 TL...

KITSAB President Orhan Tolun, who mentioned that it is calculated that there will be a 100 TL decrease in ticket prices with the inclusion of Ercan in the domestic flights category, said that some of the taxes and fees that are foreseen to be reduced originate from the TRNC and some originate from the Turkish Republic. Tolun pointed out that the issues of reducing the 15 USD and landing accommodation fees, which are charged from each passenger in addition to the ticket fee and given to the company renting Ercan Airport as per the contract, should be rearranged between the government and the relevant company.

Stating that the Ministry of Tourism has good intentions and is making efforts to meet the demands of the sector, Orhan Tolun said that although the tourism fund is 60 million TL, the government transferred 19-20 million TL to the Tourism Fund and the rest is used in the current budget. Tolun pointed out that it is important to use all of this fund for tourism in order to increase tourism revenues in the country.

Turizmde %10 gerileme bekliyoruz…

15 Temmuz sonrası Kuzey Kıbrıs’ta turizmin neredeyse dibe vurduğunu anımsatan Tolun, Bakanlığın sektör ile birlikte hızlı hareket ederek çeşitli tedbirler aldığını belirtti. 2016’nın ilk altı ayında ihracatta %28 gerileme olduğunu ifade eden Tolun, turizm sektöründe de benzer bir gerileme yaşandığını söyledi.