ALTİD and ALTAV participated at the presidential level in the workshop held at the David Intercontinental Hotel within the framework of the program prepared by Türkiye’s Embassy in Tel Aviv. In the meeting, which included TÜROFED representatives, hotel staff, travel agents, and tour operators; marketing and confidence-building contacts were made with representatives of the Israeli tourism sector and representatives of the Israeli press. Joint studies and discussions were conducted between the parties to develop tourism relations between the two countries.
Namık Tan, Turkey's Ambassador to Tel Aviv, Israel's Cultural and Tourism Attaché, Deputy General Managers of Promotion at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Levent Demirel and Cemal Tekkanat, TÜROFED President Ahmet Barut, TÜOFED board members, and representing the Alanya region, TÜROFED board member and ALTİD President Gülçin Güner and ALTAV President Faik Kaptanoğlu participated effectively in the workshop. Turkey is the country most visited by Israeli citizens. Indeed, 560 thousand Israelis visited Turkey last year, but in recent times, the mutual tourism movement between Turkey and Israel has not started as desired. However, tourism serves as a bridge between countries. We believe that this bridge of goodwill created by tourism will play a role in increasing the number of visitors; this meeting, which began with a workshop, will be a turning point for the 2009 tourism season.