Turkish Airlines wants task force to enliven tourism sector

Turkish Airlines CEO Temel Kotil has called for tourism representatives to create a task force and to focus on Asia and Africa as the sector players have voiced their concerns amid escalating risks affecting the country's tourist numbers. 

"What we all need to do is to seek new markets together. Let's join our forces to invite tourists from Asian and African countries to Turkey. The money will be hands of these countries in the future, when Istanbul will become one of the biggest mega-hubs of the world," he said at the 22nd general board meeting of the Hoteliers Association of Turkey (TÜROB). 

Kotil noted that the tourism sector may have some problems right now, but things will recover as Turkey has steadily been becoming a hub. 

"While the number of air passengers in Turkey was 19.6 million in 1994, this number has increased to 123 million in 2014. This figure is expected to increase up to 381 million in 2034, enabling Turkey to reach around 5.4 percent of the world's air traffic. This is an incredible growth story as the same report has projected North Africa's share will be around 19 percent, just four-times higher than Turkey's," he said, adding that Turkish Airlines has become Europe's best airline. He said this year the company will focus on Latin America and is growing both in Asia and Africa quite rapidly. 

"We'll do whatever it is necessary to support Turkey's tourism. We have already had charter flights between Saudi Arabia and the Black Sea provinces for example. We also plan to increase the number of direct flights to Antalya from many countries by this summer after a series of meeting with sector representatives," he noted. 

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