The Tourism Minister of Turkey Mehmet Nuri Ersoy is ready to rebuild tourism to the country the first week of May. The key is a health certificate. The minister did not say how Turkey would convince other nations to recognize it.
As commentators argue that the country can secure its popular position in tourism industry by quickly adopting the much-needed changes,the country is hoping to kick-start a return to tourism activity with a new “coronavirus-free” certification program for the industry that is drawing rare bipartisan support in a sector hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Ahmet Aras, mayor of the popular resort town of Bodrum and a member of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) believed that the plan could benefit the country.
“We support [the] certificate program,” Aras wrote in a message. “Tourists will prefer more hygienic destinations than others…. After COVID-19, the concept of ‘normal’ will change.”
Aras further added that a commission had been set up in his city, which he said had 1.5 million foreign tourists last year, to prepare for changes.
The program included training for workers, plans for the sterilization of vehicles, hotels, airports and restaurants, and requirements for visitors to show health documents proving they do not have coronavirus. Businesses such as hotels would have to reorganize their interior and exterior spaces to allow for social distancing.
He expects the country’s tourism season to gradually begin after May.
Though, there are questions about whether international tourism can exist at all in 2020. A top ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin said last Friday that citizens should not plan foreign trips this year, Bloomberg reported.
Russia replaced Germany as the top source for visitors to Turkey after Ankara strengthened relations with Moscow amid a drift away from NATO allies.
The Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB) expects that the domestic tourism to slowly restart by the end of June. If travel bans are lifted internationally, foreign visitors could begin arriving in July and August.
Tel Aviv-based tourism consultant Joseph Fischer, who advises businesses in Turkey, remains somewhat skeptical about a reboot in global tourism.
“That’s the million-dollar question,” he told media.
He believes international tourism will not begin until early 2021 and that countries need to focus on incentivizing their own citizens to travel domestically.
The tourism minister of Greece, which is also greatly dependent on the sector for income, said the country would be meeting with European Union officials in hopes of creating protocols to start the tourist season by July.
Tourism is an important sector worldwide, accounting for over 10% of the global GDP and pumping $8.9 trillion into the world economy in 2019, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
In Turkey, the tourism sector accounts for about 12% of the GDP. The decline is especially painful as the country came out of recession in 2019 following a currency meltdown.
