The Alanya Tourism Promotion Foundation (ALTAV) continues its promotional activities for the 2018 summer tourism season. As part of these efforts, ALTAV management has received positive news from all the fairs it participated in. Most recently, they returned satisfied from the Bratislava Fair in Slovakia. Cengiz Topçu, a member of the Board of Directors, represented ALTAV at the fair. This year's fair, held for the 24th time, took place in a 17,000 square meter indoor area and featured over 300 participants from 20 countries. The fair hosted 70,000 visitors last year, and this year it welcomed over 80,000 guests. 'ALANYA IS ON THE LIST OF CONSIDERATIONS' Topçu provided information about the fair, stating that while Slovakia received 111,000 visitors in 2015, the number decreased to 76,000 in 2017. Topçu provided the following information about the fair: "We conducted intensive activities throughout the fair. We carried out activities showcasing Alanya's historical, natural, and cultural attractions. We gifted bags, maps, and nazar boncuk (evil eye) charms from Alanya to the guests who visited our stand. They all expressed that they loved Alanya and were considering including it in their vacation plans. We hope to achieve the same success in the Slovak market as we have in other markets." 'INITIAL SIGNS ARE POSITIVE' On the first day of the fair, the Slovakian Ambassador, Aslıgül Üğdül, and her Deputy, Cüneyt Yavuzcan, visited our stand. Spain and Greece, our competitors in the market, were not present at the fair. Countries such as Thailand, Bulgaria, and Croatia were among the participants who were trying to stand out. As ALTAV, we carried out Alanya's promotional activities under the umbrella of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. As ALTAV, we strive to be present everywhere to promote Alanya. We received feedback from participants that this fair seemed more productive than in previous years. 'THE DATA IS COMPARABLY BETTER' The tour operators I spoke with provided information that the sales of Turkey, and especially the Antalya region, are significantly better compared to last year. Furthermore, the journalists I spoke with observed that there have been positive developments in Turkey's perception of being "unsafe" compared to last year, and that this has led to an increase in demand, especially among families. We will maintain contact with the journalists who accepted our invitation to visit Alanya, and we will try to host them in Alanya to ensure they receive coverage in print and visual media. 'AIR TRAVEL PROBLEMS MAY OCCUR' Overall, in 2018, Slovakia will choose Turkey as its second most popular travel destination, after Croatia. The Antalya region will receive the largest share of this. In 2015, we received 111,428 visitors from Slovakia, 41,857 in 2016, and 76,731 in 2017. The figures for 2018 are planned to be over 100,000. The current situation suggests that demand may be limited by air travel problems. Otherwise, the market activity is conducive to reaching the 2015 figures.