President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lauded on Sunday Türkiye's potential in tourism sector, highlighting the various opportunities the country has while pointing to the growing number of tourists and revenues.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of Rixos Tersane Istanbul, the president highlighted the city's role as a host of numerous international meetings, saying it is among the world's favorite destinations in terms of culture and congresses.
As part of his speech, Erdoğan recalled the government's support to investors so far and said: "For us, there are no local or foreign investors. There are investors who produce added value. We stand by our investors who use the income they earn in our country or abroad for the Turkish economy. We will continue to support our business world."
Furthermore, he acknowledged tourism as one of the areas that produce chain-based added value, explaining the efforts to boost the sector's appeal.
"As Türkiye, we are one of the countries with the most potential in terms of tourism," public broadcaster TRT Haber quoted the president as saying, adding that as a government they recognized its strategic importance.
He also noted they decided to spread tourism over 12 months, underscoring the wrong perception that only sea, sand and sun were taken into consideration when evaluating this industry.
"We carried out visionary work in critical areas. We brought to light our cultural heritage hidden all around Anatolia," said Erdoğan.
"We have made tourism one of the locomotives of the Turkish economy. We are running from record to record," he added.
Moreover, he pointed to increasing revenues, saying they were lifted from $8.5 billion in 2002 to $56 billion last year.
"Tourism revenues increase depending on the length of stay, amount of spending and number of tourists. As of the end of July, the number of tourists visiting our country reached 35 million," the president said.
He also reiterated the goals of $60 billion in tourism revenue and 60 million tourists by the end of 2024.
Comparing the number of tourists visiting the country, he said this figure which stood at 13 million in 2002 reached 56.7 million by the end of 2023.
"Thanks to our airports, our foreign guests can easily visit every corner of our country. (We have) the busiest airport in Europe with an average of 1,500 flights per day," he further said, in an apparent reference to Istanbul Airport.
He also highlighted the breakthroughs in cruise tourism, saying: "More passengers per ship are now coming to Istanbul. We expect a significant increase in the number of passengers coming to Istanbul in the coming years."
The president concluded by saying there were many more titles to be covered, saying, "All these were just a beginning."
