Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO) Chairman of the Board of Directors Gürsel Baran stated that Ankara has an important potential in the field of culture, health and congress tourism and said, “Ankara is a hidden treasure. We have been trying to uncover this treasure for the last 5 years since we took office," he said.
ATO President Gürsel Baran attended the publicity and information meeting held before the "International Tourism and Travel Fair (TRAVELEXPO Ankara)", which will be held for the 3th time this year, at the ATO Congresium on 6-5 March.
In his speech giving information about TRAVELEXPO Ankara, Baran pointed out that Turkey is in a problematic geography and said that the war between Russia and Ukraine could affect Turkey's tourism, food, energy sectors and service exports. Referring to the developments in world tourism, Baran reminded that the tourism sector reached a global volume of 2019 trillion dollars in 9,2, and said that the sector, which was interrupted due to the pandemic, started to revive. Baran stated that the global target of the sector this year is 8,6 trillion dollars.
Stating that the Covid-19 epidemic has disrupted all the balances, but its effect is gradually decreasing, Baran reminded Turkey's achievements in the field of tourism. Baran said, “In 2019, we achieved a tourism income of 34,5 billion dollars. We hosted 51,7 million tourists. We're in a really good spot. This year, we aim to reach 35 billion dollars in revenue before the epidemic. I think we will be successful in this as well,” he said.
Stating that people preferred sea, sand and sun tourism in the past, but now the interest is directed to culture and historical tourism, Baran noted that camp and caravan holidays also come to the fore due to the pandemic.
"TOGETHER WE WILL FIGHT THE TOURISM"
Providing information about Ankara's tourism potential, Baran pointed out that Ankara has a special place in the field of tourism. Baran explained that as Ankara Chamber of Commerce, they are working to raise awareness about the tourism potential of the Capital.
Emphasizing that Ankara is a hidden treasure, Baran said, “We have been trying to uncover this treasure for 5 years, that is, since we took office. Ankara is one of our most precious cities in culture, history, art, health and thermal. Tourism is a struggle. We will fight this fight together. We do whatever it takes, we are at your disposal. We will take the necessary steps together.” he said.
AKYURT FAIR AREA
Baran, on a question at the meeting, underlined that Ankara should have an international fairground and gave information about the Ankara International Fair and Congress Center-Akyurt Fairground Project. Stating that they started the construction by making the tender, but the work stopped for 1,5 years due to some problems, Baran said, “Currently, the construction level is around 35 percent. There was a problem with the contractor company, the court process continues. My guess is that this problem will be resolved in a few months, this work will be finished by the end of next year and Ankara will have an international fairground. Our President is following the issue closely," he said.
UKRAINE CANCELED PARTICIPATION
Ankara Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Ali Ayvazoğlu said that the capital should host many fairs and should be the first city that comes to mind when tourism is mentioned. Expressing that they want to establish infrastructures that will develop the potential of being the capital of both culture and tourism in Ankara, Ayvazoğlu stated that their biggest supporter is ATO.
Ayvazoğlu emphasized that there are nearly 30 5-star hotels in Ankara, 24 facilities in thermal tourism and thermal tourism is carried out in 5 districts and that this should be improved. Informing that 2019 thousand foreign patients were treated in health tourism in 102, Ayvazoğlu stated that this number increased to 250 thousand last year.
Organizer of TRAVELEXPO Ankara, ATIS Fuarcılık A.Ş. Bilgin Aygül, Chairman of the Board of Directors, gave information about the fair and stated that Ukraine canceled its participation due to the war and that some participants from Russia could not come.
BROTHER COUNTRY IRAN
The 5th TRAVELEXPO Ankara, which is expected to play an important role in the promotion of Ankara's cultural and health tourism, will be held on 3-6 March at the Atrium, Troy and Zelve halls of the ATO Congresium Fair and Congress Center.
Iran will participate in the fair as a sister country and Trabzon as a sister city in the fair, supported by the TR Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ankara Governorship, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO), Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO), Ankara City Council.
More than 20 participants from nearly 200 countries, from North Macedonia to Latvia, from Malaysia to the Philippines, will take part in the fair, with the support of the TR Ministry of Trade and the coordination of the Turkish Health Tourism Council, from 13 countries (Iraq, Kazakhstan, Iran, 40 March 20 with 04 industry professionals from Sweden, Ukraine, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Russia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Switzerland and 2022 tour operators from various countries (Iran, Serbia, Germany, Azerbaijan, Russia, Macedonia) with the support of TGA One-on-one business meetings will be held.
Anatolian Ankara Tourism Operators Association (ATID) President Birol Akman, Ankara Touristic Hoteliers and Operators Association (ANTOD) President Atilla Aytun, Tourism Academics Association (TUADER) President Prof. Dr. Muharrem Tuna, Skal Ankara Representative Tülay Akın Ergincan, ATO Vice President and Ankara City Council (AKK) President Halil İbrahim Yılmaz, ATO's committee and council members and many press members.
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