As peace increases, tourists come.

Cengiz Topçu, a member of the Board of Directors of the Alanya Tourism Promotion Foundation, reported from Matka Nordic, the largest and most prestigious fair in Northern Europe: "The number of tourists coming to our country from Finland will increase by 10-15% in 2020."

Alanya was promoted at the International Tourism Fair Matka Nordic Travel Fair, held in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, which has a population of 1.5 million. The promotion of Alanya was carried out by the Alanya Tourism Promotion Foundation (ALTAV). The promotional activities for Alanya were conducted at the 100 square meter stand of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey. The stand of the Ministry featured representatives from Alanya and Kilit Group. This organization, which had over 60,000 visitors in 2019, is the largest and most prestigious fair held in Northern Europe. Sharing his impressions of the fair, ALTAV Board Member Cengiz Topçu emphasized that one of the most striking themes was environmental awareness, which has been a prominent topic in recent years and has become a key aspect of sustainable tourism, and that it is now being questioned even in the destinations people visit. Topçu stated that energy saving, increasing the use of renewable energy, reducing waste, and increasing recycling were the main topics highlighted. "In Finland, a very large percentage, around 99%, of waste is recycled and contributes to the economy. Even the fair organizers are encouraging the use of tap water by selling empty bottles and promoting the idea of 'Don't buy bottled water, bring your own bottle and fill it up from the taps, you can drink it safely'," he said.

"FINNAIR WILL FLY MORE OFTEN."

In his statement, Topçu, providing general and statistical information, said: Nazar, Apollo, and Matkavekka are participating in the fair. The main players in the market, Aurinkomatkat, Detur, and Tjareborg, have chosen not to participate. They explain this by citing the increase in costs and the fact that sales are now increasingly taking place online. Pegasus is planning flights from Helsinki to Istanbul and Konya, while Sun Express is planning flights from Helsinki to Antalya. Finnair is continuing its program from last year. Finnair, which primarily uses Gazipaşa Alanya Airport (GZP), aims to reach a slightly higher number of passengers this year compared to last year, as it will start its summer flights earlier and end them later, maintaining the same number of flight days.

“A 10-15% increase would be a success.”

The number of tourists from Finland visiting Turkey reached its peak in 2014, but subsequently experienced a decline, similar to other Nordic markets. While the increase is slow year by year, projections for 2020 indicate a growth of 10-15%. The most encouraging development during this period is Finnair's continued operations and use of Gazipaşa Airport (GZP) during the winter. The company will continue its program during the 2020-21 winter months. During the summer of 2019, from April 1st to October 31st, the number of people who purchased holidays in Finland was 483,928. Turkey ranks third, after Greece and Spain, in terms of the share it receives from this number. The number of tourists from Finland visiting our country between January and November 2019 was announced as 131,500.

"PRICE COMPETITION IS OUR GREATEST STRENGTH."

Finnish guests tend to prefer staying within the city and place great importance on the comfort of accommodation facilities. Negative perceptions, likely stemming from political reasons and prevalent in social and traditional media, persist. Furthermore, a significant number of people believe that Turkey has the potential to enter a war at any moment. As in all Scandinavian countries, they are very sensitive to environmental issues. They are now seeking this sensitivity in the destinations they visit, and they pay close attention to it even when choosing their hotels. Currently, price competitiveness is our biggest advantage compared to other destinations. Social media is extremely prevalent, especially among young people, who are our potential future guests. We have been in contact with operators who conduct a large portion of their operations in Alanya, and we have discussed hosting social media influencers and journalists in Alanya.