The 37th IFT Belgrade International Tourism Fair, held in Serbia's capital Belgrade, took place at the Sajam Exhibition Center. Elvan Güneş, a Member of the Board of the Alanya Promotion Foundation (ALTAV), provided information based on her observations of the fair and the meetings she conducted: Turkey was represented by 15 institutions in a 305-square-meter area organized by the Ministry of Tourism. With the organization of our Republic of Türkiye Belgrade Cultural and Promotion Attaché's Office, calligraphy and ebru artists performed ebru art and calligraphy applications at the Turkey stand throughout the fair to promote our country's cultural values and increase interest in our stand. A Serbian chef interested in Turkish cuisine prepared dishes aimed at promoting Turkish cuisine on the third day of the fair. Baklava was offered to the guests who visited during the fair. Our stand was visited by our Ambassador to Belgrade Mehmet Kemal Bozay and our Bosnia Attaché Soner Şahin. Prof. Dr. Daliborka Blazeska from the Faculty of International Marketing Management Sciences was also among the names who visited our stand along with her students. We provided her with the information she requested regarding Alanya, and we will remain in contact with her for future studies.
“HOT SALES OCCURRED AT THE FAIR”
Serbia's population is around 7 million 300 thousand. In 2014, the number of fair visitors was realized as 62,500. We held meetings with officials from 1A Travel, Big Blue Travel, Filip Travel Kontiki, and Odeon, which are important tour operators in the region. In general terms, they expect an increase of around 5-10 percent in their 2015 planning. However, due to the current economic crisis in the country, they also have concerns regarding realized sales. The minimum wage is around 300 euros, and this year there has been a decrease of about 10 percent in the salaries of civil servants. Since a significant portion of the operators begin their sales with the fair period, the data will become clear in the coming days; however, during the fair, some operators stated that they have had a good start to their sales.
“GAZİPAŞA ALANYA AIRPORT CAN BE PREFERRED”
Kontiki and Big Blue have made their flight plans together. They will fly to Antalya with 5 aircraft per week between the months of May and October. Filip Travel-Odeon Travel and Euro Jet will also fly to Antalya Airport together with 3 aircraft per week between the months of May and October. 1A Travel will fly directly to Antalya with 3 aircraft per week between the months of May and October. They stated that they are in negotiations for an additional aircraft. We provided tour operators with important information regarding the latest status of Gazipaşa Alanya Airport. They expressed that they might prefer this airport, which has advantages, if Alanya sales increase by a few more points.
“THE MODERNITY OF ALANYA FACILITIES IS THE REASON FOR PREFERENCE”
The number of visitors coming to Türkiye from Serbia continues to increase every year. According to official figures, the number of visitors arriving in Türkiye was 113,465 in 2010, 137,934 in 2011, 157,568 in 2012, 169,988 in 2013, and 189,396 in 2014. Antalya has been the most preferred region. Within the Antalya region, the most visitors preferred the Alanya and Kemer districts. Some agencies state that the Kemer district has become slightly more prominent in sales that began this year due to excessive price reductions in the Kemer region. However, the impressions I have gained from the meetings I have conducted are that demand for the Alanya region will not decrease. In interviews conducted with visitors staying at the facilities, they say they will prefer Alanya again because the facilities in the Alanya region are new and they receive high-quality service.
“ALANYA WILL BE FEATURED ON SERBIAN TV”
We gave an interview to Serbia's high-rated TV channel Kopernikus 3. In this interview, which will be broadcast twice on the channel's Atlas Turizm program, the Alanya footage that we provided to them on CD will also be used. We also provided the Serbian translation of the promotional information previously prepared for this program by Alexandra Vulovic, a graduate of Serbian Turkology who has been working with us at the Alanya stand for 5 years and speaks very good Turkish. We invited the team preparing the program to Alanya as part of our promotional activities. In the coming days, we intend to undertake an important TV promotional work for the Serbian market.