Serbia Aims for 500,000 Tourists.

Alanya was promoted at the Belgrade Tourism Fair in Serbia, which opened its doors for the 44th time. Şükrü Cimrin, a member of the Board of Directors of the Türkiye Turizm Tanıtım ve Geliştirme Ajansı (TGA) and the Alanya Tourism Promotion Foundation (ALTAV), shared his observations and evaluations based on the fair and the meetings he held, providing the following information:

This year, we will be present at the fair from February 23rd to 26th at the (TGA) stand as (ALTAV). We are located in the section reserved for ALTAV within the TGA stand at the largest tourism fair in Serbia, which is very important for our country and Alanya tourism.

At the meticulously prepared fair, organized by the TGA and the Serbian Culture and Tourism Attaché, Mr. Mert Demiral, the Minister of Tourism and Youth of Serbia, Mr. Husein Memic, along with the participation of the Serbian Ambassador, Mr. Hami Aksoy, visited the Turkish stand on the first day and first hour of the fair, and held a press conference. During the press statement, which attracted the attention of numerous journalists, the Serbian Minister of Tourism stated that the number of Serbian citizens vacationing in Turkey reached a record high in 2022, and that a new record is expected to be broken in 2023. He urged Serbian citizens not to hesitate to vacation in Turkey and to continue breaking records. He emphasized that Serbia and he himself have always been on the side of Turkey, and that he believes the recovery process of those affected by the earthquake in Turkey will be completed as soon as possible. The Minister also added that the distance between the earthquake-affected region and the holiday regions is at least 800 kilometers.

This press conference, organized with great effort by our TGA and the Serbian Culture and Tourism Attaché, was, in our opinion, an extremely successful public relations effort, providing reassurance to the people of Serbia from the most authoritative sources. The press conference will be frequently featured in the Serbian media in the coming days.

Following the press conference, the Minister of Tourism and Youth of Serbia, Husein Memic, also visited the Alanya stand. During his visit, we presented him with an embroidered Turkish flag on behalf of our Mayor, Mr. Adem Murat Yücel.

Our Ambassador to Serbia, Mr. Hami Aksoy, also visited the Alanya stand and we had a discussion with him.

In 2022, the number of tourists traveling from Serbia to Turkey reached 357,750, representing a 50% increase compared to 2021.

According to information we received from Enver Babat, Director of Big Blue, the tour operator that brings the most tourists to Türkiye, and from Operations Manager Dusan Anastasov, and based on the plans of Barcino Tour and other tour operators, the target and planning for the Serbian market for the 2023 season is 500,000 passengers.

The Serbian market, which has high growth potential, has seen intensive advertising campaigns and promotional activities by TGA following the pandemic. As a result of these promotional activities, the biggest obstacle to translating the growing demand into increased seat capacity is that charter flights from Serbia are operated by Air Serbia, and Air Serbia is unable to keep up with the increasing demand from tour operators. In addition, Turkish Airlines operates 3 flights daily between Belgrade and Istanbul, and Anadolu Jet has started flights to Ankara. Air Serbia also continues to operate a total of 16 flights per week to Istanbul. We have also received information that Air Serbia will soon start flights to Ankara.

Tourism operators, as well as our Cultural and Tourism Attaché, Mr. Mert Demiral, are in close contact with Air Serbia regarding the possibility of increasing the number of charter flights.

Alanya and the Kemer region are among the destinations that attract the most tourists. In addition, TGA continues its promotional activities and hospitality initiatives throughout Turkey, aiming to promote the entire country to destinations around the world, within the framework of its tourism strategy.

Representatives of TAV Gazipaşa-Alanya Airport, Eren Kestek and Tuğçe Tozlu, who had their own stand at the Turkish pavilion, worked diligently at the fair, conducting introductory discussions and providing information about the airport, including the Gazipaşa flights that Air Serbia launched for the first time last year.

During our meeting with Mr. Mert Demiral, the Cultural and Tourism Attaché of the Serbian Embassy, we agreed that we will host journalists and influencers in Alanya and Antalya during the months of April and May. We will begin work on this initiative after the trade fair.

We have reached a significant number of tourists in Serbia, a country with a population of 7 million, and we are confident that we will reach our 2023 target of 500,000. We would like to thank TGA, our Cultural and Tourism Attaché in Belgrade, Mr. Mert Demiral, and all our valuable tour operators who are constantly increasing capacity.