The Turkish resort town of Bodrum is working to become a hot spot for world-famous brands, the town's mayor said on Friday.
"Bodrum is taking confident steps toward becoming a destination where world-renowned brands. World-famous hotel and restaurant chains are in fierce competition to get into the city," Ahmet Aras said at the Mediterranean Tourism Forum being held in Malta.
Organized by the Mediterranean Tourism Foundation (MTF) with the support of Bodrum Municipality and Bodrum Promotion Foundation (BOTAV), the forum aims to increase tourism cooperation among regional countries, with discussion on the future of tourism and new trends in the sector.
Addressing high-level participants from nations all over the world, especially those on the Mediterranean coast, Aras said the meeting would benefit all those attending, as well as world tourism as a whole.
On Turkey and Bodrum's tourism potential, Aras said the country held strong alternative opportunities with its natural scenery, together with the historical and human resources built up by its inhabitants from the past to the present.
"As Bodrum, we are the most important tourist destination of the Mediterranean. The wealth we hold and the potential that we bear exceed those of all other Mediterranean destinations. We want to make Bodrum the leading tourism center of the Mediterranean," he said.
Noting that the number of foreigners who came to the resort town in the first four months of the year was almost the same as all its visitors in 2019, Aras said, "The number of tourists arriving by sea and air in 2022 will exceed that of 2019."
In 2019, the city hosted 1.3 million foreign tourists, while only 530,000 came in 2020 in the midst of the global coronavirus outbreak.
Aras expects that Bodrum will attract around 1.5 million foreign tourists this year.
