Tourism Minister Aksit Returns To Turkey

Aksit said that totally 833,000 tourists came to Turkey from Bulgaria as of the end of 2002, adding that Bulgaria is ranked the fifth among countries which sends the highest number of tourists to Turkey.
Tourism Minister Aksit said that Bulgaria is also an important country as it connects Turkey to Europe by highway, adding that she also discussed with Bulgarian officials to make this route safer and to review the visa application valid for Turkish citizens.
Aksit said she also had a seperate meeting with tourism representatives of regional countries in the sidelines of the Second International Tourism Conference.
Stressing that the Balkan market carries great importance for Turkey, Aksit said that the tourist number that will come from the Balkan countries will exceed two milions this year.
Aksit said that she voiced concrete proposals for regional cooperation in the meeting, adding that ”my first proposal is foundation of the Union of Travel Agencies of Balkan Countries, another one is promotion of regional countries prior to and during the Olympic Games that will be held in Athens in 2004. Another proposal of mine is transfer of ships to Black Sea and making the sea a lake of yachts. All the attendees accepted my proposals. The region has great importance in respect of tourism. Another step for formation of a Balkan Tourism Union at the level of private sector will be taken. This region has great potential in respect of tourism, but it only gets a share of five percent from the European market where 60 percent of the tourism movements take place. This share will increase by the foundation of this union.”
Aksit said that she proceeded to Dusseldorf after Bulgaria and she participated in the catalogue promotion meeting of the tour operator GTI which brings brings significant number of tourists to Turkey, there.