Ahmet Savaşan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Tourism Research and Development Center (NEU TARGEM), which operates within the body of Near East University, recently participated in the World Travel Market 2007 Fair in London and made various contacts.
According to the press release issued by the Directorate of Press and Public Relations Office of Near East University, Ahmet Savaşan met with tour operators, airlines and local and foreign sector representatives who send tourists to Northern Cyprus during his stay in London and made contacts on the measures to be taken in 2008 and the measures to be taken for the improvement of tourism.
“World Travel Market is of great importance for the TRNC as the UK is the primary market for the TRNC, the tourism sector and the ministry participate heavily in this fair, and it is also a place where the first impressions of 2008 are obtained and the pulse is kept in terms of TRNC tourism,” said Savaşan:
“According to statistics, the total number of foreign trips by EU countries amounted to about 235 million. Of these, 78 million were German and 48 million British tourists. Germany and the UK account for more than half of the total number of trips abroad by EU citizens. When we add the Turkish Cypriots living in the UK, which number in the hundreds of thousands, we can say that the UK is still an important market for TRNC tourism. On the other hand, there was a significant decrease in the number of tourists coming from the UK in 2006 and 2007. When we look at 2008, the concerns that tour operators sending tourists to the TRNC will decrease, that flights from the UK will be canceled from certain cities, that tourists coming to the Greek side of Northern Cyprus will be taken on a day trip, that the incentive system will be prepared without acting with the sector and that it will not embrace the whole, bring hoteliers, agents and other representatives of the sector together on the denominator that the incoming year is lost.’
Finally, Savaşan said, “It is inevitable that market research should be conducted seriously and long-term market strategies should be determined in order to ensure that tourism is based on sustainable foundations and the future of the sector. Working together with sector representatives, we have started to produce projects to ensure that all segments of society gain the most from tourism and that tourism becomes the leading sector in real terms.”.
