Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu gave good news to tourism professionals during his party's group meeting. Davutoğlu announced that support would be provided to airlines coming from countries experiencing economic difficulties to revitalize tourism. The announcement was as follows: "Today, I want to share two important pieces of good news regarding one of our sectors. Tourism is one of Turkey's most important sectors. It is known as a smokeless factory. However, there is talk that there could be serious difficulties in tourism this year. There are problems arising from economic difficulties, primarily in Russia. We also foresaw that there could be issues in Iran. Upon receiving news of a decline in early reservations and developments regarding cancellation news, we held meetings with our relevant ministries within the past week.
“THERE WILL BE 6 THOUSAND DOLLARS IN FUEL SUPPORT”
"Within the next two months, through the organizations of travel agencies, we will provide 6 thousand dollars in fuel support to the flights arriving from these countries. Consequently, we will prevent flight cancellations in advance. We will lighten the burden on tour agencies and attempt to prevent cancellations. Secondly, we will provide treasury-backed loan guarantees to tour operators. We will also provide significant credit opportunities directed toward tour operators."
“WE ARE WORKING IN HARMONY WITH THE MINISTRY”
Stating that the announcement was welcomed with joy within the tourism sector, Burhan Sili, Member of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Hotel Association (TÜROFED) and President of the Alanya Tourism Operators Association (ALTİD), said, "We had emphasized and reported this issue in every consultation and in the meetings held with the Ministry through TÜROFED. This result is the product of our Ministry working in harmony with tourism professionals and is a significant success. Our role as tourism professionals in this decision is great. The necessity of tourism being a state policy concerns the future of a sector that becomes increasingly difficult in every period." Sili thanked, above all, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Culture and Tourism Ömer Çelik, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, and all officials who contributed to this important development.