According to the data of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Turkey exceeded the number of 50.2 million tourists in the January-October period of 2023.
Camelot Maritime Chairman of the Board of Directors Emrah Yılmaz Çavuşoğlu said, “Turkey has a bright future in cruise tourism. “We anticipate that this momentum we achieved in 2023 will increase further in 2024,” he said and added: “As Camelot Maritime, our investments will continue. “Cruise tourism will constitute one of the strongest areas of the Turkish economy.”
Turkey, one of the most important cruise tourism destinations in the world, continues to be the choice of foreign tourists. Our country’s tourism industry, which has had a busy year 2023, is hopeful for next year as well, with the motivation provided by early reservations for 2024.
WE ACHIEVED A 20 PERCENT INCREASE, THE NUMBER OF VISITORS IN JANUARY-OCTOBER 2023 EXCEEDED 50.2 MILLION PEOPLE
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism had determined Turkey’s 2023 tourism target as 55.6 billion dollars. However, factors such as earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş, the election process and the Israeli-Palestinian war show that this figure may be revised at the end of the year.
Emrah Yılmaz Çavuşoğlu, Chairman of the Board of Directors and businessman of Camelot Maritime, the first and only company operating a foreign-owned cruise ship in Turkey, said, “According to the data of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the total number of visitors we hosted as a country in the January-October period of 2023 is 50.2.” “It exceeded a million people,” he said. Stating that the number of foreign tourists choosing Turkey for their holidays increased by 11.58 percent in these 10 months compared to the same period of the previous year, Çavuşoğlu said, “We have reached 42 billion dollars in tourism revenues in the January-September 2023 period. “We are pleased to see that we have achieved a 20 percent increase compared to the $35 billion revenue we achieved in the same period last year.”
TARGET IS 100 BILLION DOLLARS
Stating that Turkey has had a strong year in all types of tourism sector, especially cruise tourism, Çavuşoğlu said, “I would like to explain the point Turkey has reached in the field of tourism with some data: We have achieved significant success in per capita nightly expenditure figures. The average nightly spending per person, which was 65 dollars in 2017, increased to 89 dollars in 2022. The target here is $100 this year. The total bed capacity of our accommodation facilities, which was approximately 800 thousand in 2002, increased to 2.2 million as of November. We see that there is an increase of 175 percent. It has become mandatory for all facilities to be certified by the ministry. “With all these developments, our country has come close to completing a very necessary process in qualified tourism,” he said.
TURKEY HAS A GREAT AHEAD IN CRUISE TOURISM
Pointing out that Turkey is in the world’s super league in tourism, Çavuşoğlu lastly said: “As our Minister of Culture and Tourism emphasized, our goal is much bigger in 2028. We will raise the bar to 100 billion dollars in tourism income. Professional tourism such as Camelot Maritime will help in the development of these goals.” “As Camelot Maritime, we will provide added value to the Turkish economy with our investments in 2024. We think that the future is open for Turkey in cruise tourism. From now on, Turkey should implement sustainable tourism in the most professional way.”
2024 AEGEAN WILL BE MOVING
Stating that the competition in tourism will be revitalized this year with Greece’s announcement that it will provide visa-free travel to 10 Greek islands, Camelot Maritime General Manager Gürbüz Can said that they expect 2024 to be more active than the previous year. Stating that a part of the sector has been looking forward to the opportunity to travel to the Greek islands without a visa for a long time, Can said, “This development will increase the options in tourism and also provide different tourism routes and opportunities. “This development will increase the country’s tourist exports,” he said. Can stated that this development is promising for Turkish cruise operators organizing Greek islands tours and that the entire industry is already looking forward to 2024. Stating that the development is very pleasing for the sector, Can added that the fact that the popular Mykonos and Santorini islands are not included among the islands that can be visited without a visa creates a bit of a disappointment and a question mark.
The opinions expressed herein are the author’s and not necessarily those of News2Sea.
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