The promotional cocktail, held with intensive participation, was attended in full force by the founding members of HOTED and the management of Temizel Çamaşır Yıkama Fabrikası, Türkiye Otelciler Federasyonu (TÜROFED) Board Member and Alanya Turistik İşletmeciler Derneği (ALTİD) President Burhan Sili, Altın Kepçe Aşçılar Derneği President Mustafa Nail Özden and board members, Kent Konseyi President Nurhan Özcan, Satın Alma Derneği President Murat Arıncı, Meziyet Köseoğlu Eğitim Merkezi (Apprenticeship Training) Director Levent Aysal, Ümit Altay Tourism School Director and teachers, the management cadres of the housekeeping community, and the owners and representatives of hotel equipment and industrial firms operating in the sector.
At the cocktail, which began with the management of HOTED and Temizel welcoming the guests at the door, HOTED founder, honorary president, and chief advisor Hakan Halit Yeni, ALTİD President Burhan Sili, and HOTED Interim Board President Sema Yörütür each delivered a speech.
“I AM A MOTHER”
Sema Yörütür, making a short speech at the opening of the night, said, “I am a mother. So to speak, a brand new, sparkling child of ours has been born. Together, we will join hands and raise this child together. We consider it a debt of gratitude to our esteemed friends and the valuable members of our profession who did not withhold their support and accepted our invitation.”
NEW: HOTED WILL BECOME A BRAND DEPARTING FROM ALANYA AND WILL TAKE ITS PLACE NOT ONLY IN ALANYA BUT ALSO IN THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA
Hakan Halit Yeni, the founder, honorary president, and chief consultant of HOTED, explained to the guests what they have accomplished to date and HOTED's future goals. Yeni stated, “On this path that we embarked upon with our esteemed colleagues under the slogan ‘In 2006, the only thing that does not change is change,’ we will continue all the activities we have launched so far without interruption. We will continue all our activities, such as the Housekeeping Olympics at the International Antalya ANFAŞ Fair, out-of-town factory training trips related to our profession, the Housekeeping Job Employment Project, and floor supervisor courses, by adding new projects. Additionally, we will continue our 115 training seminars, each under a separate heading and conducted to date, by adding new topics. Let no one doubt that HOTED will not be an organization limited only to Alanya; it will act in unity and solidarity with all our colleagues throughout our country and with our newly established and soon-to-be-established housekeeping associations, taking its place on the international arena by being involved in all kinds of work concerning the housekeeping profession, including the federation. Without ever slowing our pace, we will continue our journey with the HOTED Alanya International 3rd Housekeeping Olympics on January 21-22-23-24, 2015, at the International Antalya ANFAŞ Hotel Equipment Fair, with the contributions of our valued business partner Tolkar. We exist through the support and contributions of our friends, and with their support, we will continue our work for the future of our profession and for a more conscious tourism.”
“ON-SITE PROMOTION IS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION”
Burhan Sili, TÜROFED Board Member and President of ALTİD, who spoke during the night, also noted the following: In the 1950s, 25 million people were traveling across the world. By 2014, this figure has risen to one hundred and ten million. Turkey's tourism development began in the 90s. Towards the end of the 90s, as of 2014, we have exceeded the figure of 35 million in Turkey. These figures show that our country has made very significant progress in the field of tourism. Today, as Alanya, we host 4 million of the 12 million tourists who come to Antalya. We know very well that tourism is a labor-intensive sector. Through its relationship with 54 sectors, it creates magnitude in an economic sense. In this sector, we provide person-to-person service. Therefore, without you, it would not be possible for tourism to develop in this manner. On the other hand, we also know very well that the most important promotion is promotion on-site. That is to say, the positive impression formed in the people coming to our city and our businesses is very important. In fact, on-site promotion is much more effective than promotion conducted abroad. Guests who depart satisfied with our region return on their subsequent visits with many more guests. In this sense, very serious duties fall upon all of us. That is to say, very important duties fall upon non-governmental organizations such as HOTED. I would like to convey my thanks to everyone who has stepped up at this point, especially Mr. Hakan and Ms. Sema. I wish for HOTED to be beneficial to Alanya and to the country's tourism. As ALTİD, I promise that we will provide all the support we can.