Alanya was promoted at the IFT Belgrade Tourism Fair held in Belgrade, the largest city and capital of Serbia. Alanya was represented at the fair by Cengiz Topçu, an official of the Alanya Tourism Promotion Foundation (ALTAV). Topçu, who monitored the pulse of the fair hosting 80 thousand participants, shared his meetings and impressions as follows:
“TAV’S EFFORT FOR DIRECT FLIGHTS”
During the first two days, in intensive meetings held with tour operators and TAV, I received information that there is a visible decrease compared to last year. Despite this, learning that no capacity reductions have been implemented as of now, along with the efforts of TAV officials to introduce direct flights to Gazipaşa-Alanya Airport, has made me feel hopeful.
“SUCCESS AT THE FAIR REFLECTED IN THE MEDIA”
Our Ambassador's interest in the Turkish stand, the visits to our stand by the Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, the Minister of Sports and Tourism, and the Mayor of Belgrade, a performance by the country's famous basketball player under the sponsorship of Türk Hava Yolları (THY), the distribution of gifts through a raffle, and also Serbian children performing various activities while singing Turkish and Serbian anthems, ensured that the Turkish stand was the most active and colorful stand, especially during the first three days. This situation caused news reports to appear in the Serbian press mentioning Turkey in a positive sense.
“THE SECURITY PROBLEM MUST BE OVERCOME”
I answered security-related questions from guests both during hot sales and while they were visiting our Alanya stand. I gained the opinion from all market officials that reservations will increase once the security issue is resolved. However, they stated that last-minute sales would be intense, considering that time is running short.
“SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE PRESS WILL BE USED”
I shared information about the region with the agency officials who visited the Alanya stand. I provided them with ALTAV contact addresses so they could convey all kinds of problems and questions. I held meetings with various social media writers and members of the press. We discussed how we could contribute to their work, and we planned immediate and future studies.
“MEETING HELD WITH THE AMBASSADOR OF INDIA”
I requested that tour operators cooperate with us when info groups arrive in our region. Upon them stating that a paragliding experience might be interesting to them, I indicated that we would assist regarding the matter. Additionally, the Ambassador of India visited our stand, and I had the opportunity to meet with him. I invited him to Alanya with his cat and presented him with an embroidered plate as a gift. Deputy Ambassador Derya Hanım informed me that she would be working on media and fam tour organization.
“NEGATIVE NEWS IS APPEARING IN THE PRESS”
Unfortunately, the weather experienced in Europe is also prevailing here. The incidents in Ankara that occurred before the fair negatively affected the atmosphere here. This atmosphere relatively dissipated on the second, third, and fourth days. Especially, the news appearing in the press here is in a negative direction.
“THERE IS A SEGMENT THAT DOES NOT GIVE UP ON TÜRKİYE”
I have received information that Serbians' overseas holiday habits are increasing. Despite what has happened in the past and current events, there is a segment that does not give up on Türkiye. Last year, the number of visitors to Türkiye was around 162 thousand, but a large-scale decrease is expected this year. A segment that is waiting for prices to drop due to the ongoing negative developments also states that they will vacation in Türkiye despite everything once they find an affordable price.
“THERE IS NO DECREASE IN THE NUMBER OF AIRCRAFT FOR NOW”
Peninsula officials, representing Big Blue, Contigi, 1A Travel, and 3 agencies operating in Türkiye, stated as of today that they have experienced a loss of between 25-45 percent compared to last year, including hot sales. They stated that they still have hope and that they will not proceed with a reduction in the number of flights coming to our region for the time being.
“THE $6,000 SUPPORT PROCEDURE MUST BE UNDERSTANDABLE”
Tour operators emphasized that they do not have exact information regarding the 6 thousand dollar fuel support to be paid to them within the scope of the incentive and stressed that this information must be provided to them as soon as possible. They stated that otherwise, the aid to be provided after flight cancellations would not yield the desired benefit, and they requested that the procedure be as acceptable and understandable in its brevity as possible.
“PROJECTS WILL BE PRESENTED”
Our Ambassador to Belgrade stated that our presence here is very important and that, if these efforts continue, the number of tourists coming to Türkiye could increase as the country's agenda returns to normal. His Deputy, Ms. Derya, said that she would meet with other operators in the coming days and present several projects for our evaluation. I conveyed to them that we could participate in and contribute to any kind of work to be carried out regarding Alanya.
“THE BALKANS SHOULD BE SUPPORTED”
Particularly in my meetings with tour operators, the common consensus was regarding the need for increased importance to be given to the Balkans. They stated that this region is a developing and loyal market and that this market needs to be supported more.
They stated that road, location, and directional signs in Alanya should also be in English, and that guests have expressed this deficiency regarding the city.