Turkey has decided to focus more on alternative means of promotion as compared to traditional practices so far, to influence potential foreign visitors and get a bigger share in the global tourism sector.
Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Turkey’s Tourism Minister, has informed the press about the new strategies the administration has decided to pursue to increase tourism revenues of the country. Within this framework the Minister made the following statements;
“The sector has always some concerns about stability, regarding promotion etc. in this case. Turkey has limited resources but great expectations, especially in tourism field. Until a short time ago, we were rather focused on “offline” promotion which was indeed correct. But today offline promotion does not seem to have the same effect anymore.
We have now decided to keep a certain level of offline presentation and will carry out promotion campaigns with focus on digital and social media.
For example, we will continue to participate in important fairs, where we will carry out proper launching but we will be at relevant and required places only. Also we will substantially increase our advertising and promotion budget. You will see the significant increase in our advertising budget as of 2019. You will also see the change in the shape of our advertising campaign.
While advertising campaigns will be carried out intensively on international TV channels, our promotion program will also include powerful online presence. We will carry out campaigns to match the requirements of the era we are in and use online promotion alternatives via youtubers and trendsetters with impact on social media to influence larger crowds on a global scale. We will conduct such work to change Turkey's perception. You will start observing these changes and practices very soon. We will focus more on markets with scheduled flights to/from Turkey such as Russia, Germany, England and the Netherlands, in the first plan.”
Based on figures provided by the Minister, more than 37.5 million foreigners visited the country in the first 11 months of 2018 corresponding to an increase of 23 percent year-on-year. Turkey is expected to surpass the target of 40 million foreign visitors after including December figures, to break another record. On the other hand the government has updated its 2023 tourism target of “50 million tourists, $50 billion in income" as "70 million tourists, $70 billion in income”.
