Burhan Sili, President of the Alanya Tourist Operators Association (ALTİD) and Board Member of the Turkish Hotel Association (TÜROFED), met with students from the Tourism Department of the Alanya Vocational School of the Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University Alanya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ALTSO) at a conference. Sharing his experiences with the future tourism professionals, Sili also answered questions posed by the students.
“12 PERCENT OF TOURISTS ENTERING THE COUNTRY ARE COMING TO ALANYA”
Sili, explaining that Alanya entered the tourism industry with home pensions in the 1960s, said, “Alanya has pioneered tourism in the Mediterranean basin, and currently hosts 12 percent of the tourists entering the country and 30-35 percent of the tourists coming to Antalya. Alanya takes a share from an average of 40 tourism markets and, under normal conditions, welcomes nearly 4 million tourists.”
“TOURISM SHOULD BE A STATE POLICY”
Stating that according to 2015 data, Turkey ranks second in the world in the package tour market, Sili said, “While our country ranks 5th in Europe with 1 million 200 thousand employees in the sector, it ranks 6th in the category of preferred countries in the world with 36 million 200 thousand visitors in 2015. Tourism is one of the most important sectors of this country. It is one of the most important economic dynamics of the country, which largely closes the current account deficit in terms of on-site export and foreign exchange inflow, and it certainly cannot be ignored. Due to being a labor-intensive sector, creating employment, and its contribution to other sectors, it is in an indispensable position. It must urgently be transformed into a state policy.”