Making a speech here, Taşbaşı stated that a significant economic crisis is being experienced in the world, which has also affected tourism, but Turkey has weathered this crisis with minimal losses. Expressing that according to the World Tourism Organization, a 10 percent decline is expected in the field of tourism globally, Taşbaşı said that Antalya and Alanya have also been negatively affected due to the predominance of the Russian, Commonwealth of Independent States, Ukrainian, and Israeli markets. Taşbaşı noted that a serious recovery was experienced especially in the months of September and October, and that there was an increase in the number of Arab and British tourists this year.
Alanya District Governor Hulusi Doğan also stated that while their concerns were great due to the global economic crisis at the start of the season, he believes this year has been spent in the best possible way through the great effort and sacrifice of tourism professionals.
Emphasizing that Turkey has had a better season when looking at countries such as Egypt, Spain, Italy, and Greece, Doğan said, ''No serious hardship was experienced. There was a slight decrease compared to 2008, but I believe it was closed with minimal losses.''
AK Party Antalya Deputy Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also stated that they aim to put Gazipaşa Airport into the service of tourism as soon as possible and are working in this direction. Çavuşoğlu said, ''Gazipaşa Airport has become a topic that everyone in the region talks about. But it is not just here; one of the topics our government discusses most is the opening of Gazipaşa Airport for service.''
Explaining that the airport will have a runway 2,400 meters in length, Çavuşoğlu stated that he spoke about the airport on the plane while traveling to the USA with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and that Erdoğan is also following the matter closely.
Gazipaşa Airport Manager Cengiz Aşıklı also noted that Gazipaşa Airport currently has a runway 1,825 meters in length in category 2C, and that expropriations are continuing at great speed. Aşıklı spoke in the following manner: ''In March, Airbus 319s and equivalent aircraft will land at Gazipaşa Airport as a class. The agreements for that have been made. God willing, our flights will begin on May 22.''
ALTİD President Gülçin Güner, on the other hand, said that the inability to conduct 12-month tourism at the point Alanya has reached, the disadvantage caused by travel distance, and the transportation problem experienced due to the size of the region, will be largely overcome with the airport.
Touching upon the subject of swine flu, Güner used the expression, ''Believe me, as tourism professionals, we are following swine flu meticulously. But let us not highlight this too much. This is something that occurs everywhere. Let us not allow competitors to turn the advantages of tourism into a disadvantage with swine flu. Our friends in the tourism industry and the press are also aware of this.''
Afterwards, on behalf of ALTİD, a plaque was presented to Cumhur Güven Taşbaşı by AK Party Antalya Deputy Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu for his contributions to the promotion of Alanya.