Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy made a statement regarding the Tourist Guide Profession Law.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Ersoy stated that the law contained several important changes and said, “Of course, the law contained several important changes. The most important change is that some decisions regarding guidance and implementation are returned to the authority of the Ministry. Apart from that, a regulation has been introduced especially regarding foreign language exams. "Now it is done based on ÖSYM exams, based on the criteria in ÖSYM." said.
Stating that they have brought a privilege for Turkish citizens, Minister Ersoy said, “Knowing Turkish is enough. In other words, guides for Turkish citizens no longer need to know a foreign language. It is sufficient that they only know Turkish, speak their native language, and have completed guidance-related training. "There is no need to explain it to any Turkish group in English, there is no need to explain it in French, there is no need to explain it in German." he said.
Ersoy stated that new sanctions have been introduced, including the cancellation of the guidance license regarding Hanutism and fines, and said:
“This is one of the most sensitive issues. Unfortunately, in tourism, in the language that the public can understand, let's call it brokerage, the guide community is called khantcu, unfortunately this is very common. One of the biggest dangers of tourism. There is no such thing in any of the developed tourism countries, but unfortunately it exists very intensively in our country. We want to fight them very effectively. "We have made some regulations in the law, and if necessary, we will make other regulations in the future."
Underlining that their goal is to be among the top three in the world, Ersoy said, “We are making regulations very quickly. There have been many innovations recently, not only in the regulations regarding guidance, but also in the regulation of tourism residences and the certification of accommodation facilities. Of course, their adaptation, regulation and harmonization is a process. "As Turkey, we aim to complete this process in a short time and bring our country to the level of the countries that receive tourists in the 60 million-100 million band, which we see as competitors." he said.