World Travel Market (WTM) London, one of the world's most prestigious travel fairs, opened today. Türkiye became the focus of the field by taking its place in one of the fair's largest national stands.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy met with industry experts on the opening day of the fair and shared the latest data on Türkiye's tourism.
Emphasizing that the World Travel Market (WTM) London International Travel Fair is one of the market fairs where one can get the best idea of the end of the season as well as the evolution of the new season, Ersoy said Türkiye will complete its first nine months with 50 million visitors and $50 billion in income by 2025.
Pointing out that these numbers are an indication that the targets have been achieved, Ersoy said, “This means an increase of 1.6% in the number of visitors and more than 5.7% in revenue. At the end of this data, we can see that we can reach the target of $64 billion by the end of the year.” he said.
“We are taking confident steps toward our $64 billion goal”
Minister Ersoy pointed out that despite the difficulties experienced in the region, Turkish tourism will end the year strongly and said:
“We have been through a very difficult process. Although both the earthquakes and two major conflicts in our region slowed down the flow of bookings, we have accelerated the flow again thanks to the strong campaigns we have carried out with the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Authority (TGA). With the rapid booking flow in the last quarter, we have now seen in the latest data that we are making solid steps towards our year-end target). is $64 billion.”
UK MARKET IS GROWING WITH TARGET OF 4.5 MILLION
Minister Ersoy stated that they are focusing on double-digit growth in the UK market and continued as follows:
“If we look at the UK as a whole, we will end this year with 4 million 250 thousand visitors. Our target for next year is to welcome more than 4.5 million visitors from the UK market. We are not just seeing this in the UK; we are also focusing on new surrounding destinations such as Ireland.”
HIGHLIGHTS INVESTMENT IN HERITAGE AND FUTURE CUISINE
Emphasizing that Türkiye has now gone beyond the classical understanding of tourism, Ersoy reminded that tourism has now gone beyond the sea-sand-sun triangle.
Stating that they have been investing seriously over the past 7-8 years, especially in product diversification and diversity of destination sources, Ersoy said in his speech that archaeological excavations and night museums carried out within the scope of the “Heritage for the Future Project” have an important place among new tourism products.
Minister Ersoy also announced that the scope of the Michelin Guide has expanded to the culinary sector and said: “This year, Cappadocia will participate as a new destination and in the following years, the whole of Türkiye will be within the scope of the Michelin star.” he said.
NOW IS THE TIME OF QUALITY, NOT JUST QUANTITY
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy stated that the target of qualified tourists continues in Türkiye's tourism strategy.
Noting that they now call it the era of quality and not just quantity, Ersoy concluded his words as follows:
“This was reflected very positively in last week's figures. We saw that nightly spending by overseas tourists increased to $116 in nine months. This means we will end the year with a year-end estimate of $118.”
“GOBEKLITEPE EXHIBITION WILL GO TO EUROPE”
Answering a question about the Göbeklitepe exhibition attracting great attention in the Colosseum, one of the symbols of Rome, the capital of Italy, Ersoy announced that the exhibition will be moved to other European countries.
Noting that the exhibition attracted a record number of visitors at the Colosseum, more than 6 million, Ersoy said: “We focus a lot on cultural, archaeological tours. We are currently looking at Berlin and England. We are also planning to organize it in England. And we are planning to organize it in Berlin in 2026. In particular, we will expand the exhibition to many European countries.” he said.
BILINGUAL MEETINGS AND CONTACT
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy also held meetings with managers of the world's leading travel companies TUI, EasyJet Holidays and Jet2 Holidays within the fair.
Ersoy also met with TRNC Tourism Minister Fikri Ataoğlu and Maldives Tourism and Environment Minister Thoriq İbrahim and assessed joint cooperation opportunities.
