Turkey seeks more tourists from Middle East
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Turkish Government rolled out plans to secure market demand and recently decided to focus more on the Middle Eastern tourism market to strengthen mutual relations in political, economic, cultural and tourism sectors.
Representatives from the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Turkish tourism agencies came together to discuss mutual tourism relations in a meeting organized jointly by the Turkish Hoteliers' Association (TUROB) and Turkish Airlines (THY) in Riyadh. Majid al-Hokair, chairman of the al-Hokair Group and vice president of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, presided over the meeting. They discussed the problems facing tourism sector relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey and Tourism between the two countries is expected to receive a considerable boost with both countries offering common cultural values and appealing tourist attractions.
Earlier, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said that Turkey's relations with Saudi Arabia, based on mutual respect, dialogue, joint history and cultural values, have reached a pleasing level. "Saudi Arabia is the biggest country in the Gulf region and they plan to make infrastructure investments worth 200 billion Euros by the year 2010. There could be many projects for Turkish businessmen, especially contractors, in Saudi Arabia," Gul said. The trade volume between the two countries currently exceeds USD 5.5 billion and the Turkish government expects this to increase to USD 10 billion by 2010.
"Turkey is not the old Turkey. We have changed our investment and trade regulations, providing Turkish and foreign investors equal rights," the president said and praised Saudis investing in Turkey.
Dr. Salih Özer, head of Turkey's Riyadh Culture and Tourism Office said Turkey had opened the tourism office in Riyadh in 2006. "The number of Saudi tourists visiting Turkey has risen since then," he said, noting they saw a 40 percent increase in 2008 over the previous year.
According to Cihan news agency reports, Salih al-Humeyyid, from a tourism agency in Riyadh said "Thanks to the Turkish tourism agency in Riyadh, the number of tourists from Saudi Arabia to Turkey increased remarkably. We expect this trend will continue this year, as well."
Social BookmarkingRepresentatives from the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Turkish tourism agencies came together to discuss mutual tourism relations in a meeting organized jointly by the Turkish Hoteliers' Association (TUROB) and Turkish Airlines (THY) in Riyadh. Majid al-Hokair, chairman of the al-Hokair Group and vice president of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, presided over the meeting. They discussed the problems facing tourism sector relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey and Tourism between the two countries is expected to receive a considerable boost with both countries offering common cultural values and appealing tourist attractions.
Earlier, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said that Turkey's relations with Saudi Arabia, based on mutual respect, dialogue, joint history and cultural values, have reached a pleasing level. "Saudi Arabia is the biggest country in the Gulf region and they plan to make infrastructure investments worth 200 billion Euros by the year 2010. There could be many projects for Turkish businessmen, especially contractors, in Saudi Arabia," Gul said. The trade volume between the two countries currently exceeds USD 5.5 billion and the Turkish government expects this to increase to USD 10 billion by 2010.
"Turkey is not the old Turkey. We have changed our investment and trade regulations, providing Turkish and foreign investors equal rights," the president said and praised Saudis investing in Turkey.
Dr. Salih Özer, head of Turkey's Riyadh Culture and Tourism Office said Turkey had opened the tourism office in Riyadh in 2006. "The number of Saudi tourists visiting Turkey has risen since then," he said, noting they saw a 40 percent increase in 2008 over the previous year.
According to Cihan news agency reports, Salih al-Humeyyid, from a tourism agency in Riyadh said "Thanks to the Turkish tourism agency in Riyadh, the number of tourists from Saudi Arabia to Turkey increased remarkably. We expect this trend will continue this year, as well."
Labels: Tourism
