Antalya Governor Ahmet Altıparmak, Deputy Governor Recep Yüksel, and the accompanying delegation attended the "welcome to the season" cocktail following the openings. TÜROFED President Osman Ayık, AKTOB President Sururi Çorabatır, and many tourism professionals also participated in the event. In her opening speech, ALTİD President Gülçin Güner addressed the project openings, stating that 99 percent of the facilities have opened during these first days of the season, and that the season, which started slowly last year, has been caught at a better position at the beginning of this year. She expressed that, as ALTİD, in the presence of intense competition between countries in the Mediterranean region, their goal to stand at the right point in competition is to ensure sustainable tourism and to leave a better environment and tourism understanding for future generations. She stated that with an increase in bed supply of nearly 4 thousand in Alanya every year, the primary goal in the developing tourism understanding of the world is guest satisfaction.
In his speech, TÜROFED President Osman Ayık stated that Alanya is undertaking certain initiatives that will serve as an example to other regions of Turkey and that it is carrying out every move to become a candidate for an indispensable region by continuously improving itself with each passing year. He touched upon the necessity of urban culture and noted that there is a seasonal tourism movement throughout Turkey and especially in the Antalya region, which needs to be broken in some way. He pointed out that Alanya is one of the points most capable of achieving this, and for this reason, a process of change is being experienced, albeit slowly, and that with each day this change is being further completed, turning it into a place where 12-month tourism can be practiced and lived. He said, "There was an incident we experienced with Israel in 2008. Following this, we dropped from figures of 600 thousand to figures of 80 thousand. Following the easing of tensions with Israel, movements will gradually begin from there as well. Alanya will be one of the points that will benefit from this the most."
In his speech during the night, Antalya Governor Dr. Ahmet Altıparmak stated that it has been three years since his arrival in Antalya and that he has signed 98 protocols, all of which, without exception, are related to tourism. "Tourism is our fundamental priority, and since tourism is the primary engine of development, we must carry out all our planning and project development accordingly. We must do this in a way that serves tourism not only on the coast but also in the countryside, in the villages, and in the mountains. Three projects were supported here in 2008-2009. In the last three years, we have provided approximately 4 million TL in support to 12 separate projects.
200 tankers arrive at the port every day. When our tourism numbers increase and reach 12-13 million, this number of tankers will increase with every passing day; it is almost like a floating, moving dynamite. For that reason, we have developed a project: to bring aircraft fuel by pumping it from the port, or rather, from the sea. It will be supplied directly from the NATO pipeline. We are expanding our port. Do not think of Alanya and Manavgat separately. We must pull each other up. Planning must be within a whole from Gazipaşa to Kemer. We must now establish your image of being 'reliable like a Turk' in tourism as well. I believe that once we establish this, our efforts will yield even greater results. I hope we will represent 16 million at Expo 2016."