Antalya set to accommodate earthquake victims
The work of aid continues in the Governer office of Antalya, Türkiye, Feb, 7, 2023. (DHA Photo)


Türkiye Hoteliers Federation and Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers and Operators Association (AKTOB), in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, prepared a total of 9,450 rooms, mainly in Antalya, for earthquake victims at the first stage.

AKTOB announced that room accommodation would be allocated to 15,000 earthquake victims. Efforts to increase the number of rooms for organizations are also continuing.

In his statement, AKTOB President Kaan Kavaloğlu said, "At the Earthquake Crisis Meeting held at the earthquake disaster support coordination center established with the coordination of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Antalya Governorship, we announced to allocate room accommodation to approximately 15,000 citizens affected by the disaster. The severe climatic and geographical conditions in the regions where two major earthquakes occurred make it necessary to shelter the earthquake victims in safe areas urgently."

Announcing that they are in intensive work and cooperation with the members of the AKTOB board of directors and the union, Kavaloğlu said, "We continue our communication to meet the shelter needs of earthquake victims, even partially. We are grateful to the management of our accommodation facilities. Our communication with the Crisis Center continues 24/7. We will be keeping you informed of developments through our communication channels," he said.

In the first announcement by the Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TÜROFED), stated that from the first moment of the earthquake disaster that effected everyone deeply, work started immediately as TÜROFED under the coordination of Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. In line with the requests from the coordination centers in their regions, it has been announced that they are ready for earthquake victims.

Due to the earthquake disaster, a website named "https://www.otelz.com/tr/gecmisolsunturkiyem" was created on the internet to meet the shelter needs of earthquake victims, especially in the provinces in the earthquake zone and their immediate surroundings hotels. Many hotels throughout Türkiye, including earthquake victims, became a member of the website to provide free accommodation services. It will provide free service on the site. More than 200 hotels created memberships on the website quickly to offer free accommodation, and the number of rooms allocated exceeded 1,000. All participants in the campaign hotels are sorted by province.

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will hold three separate meetings with hoteliers in Antalya, in the regions of Lara, Manavgat and Alanya. Minister Çavuşoğlu will also give a speech regarding earthquake victims. Negotiations will be held to increase the number of rooms allocated and the number of earthquake victims accommodated. The meetings aim to increase the possibilities for the accommodation of earthquake victims in other provinces, especially in Antalya, as much as possible.