A photo exhibition of Turkey’s tourism potential was held in Ashgabat

Date of publication: 17 April 2024 / Views: 423

Yesterday, April 16, 2024, the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Turkmenistan organized a reception at the Turkish Cultural Center of the Embassy for a wide range of the public. Among the invitees were representatives of government agencies of Turkmenistan, the diplomatic corps of Turkmenistan, travel agencies, media services and others. This event was timed to coincide with the National Tourism Week of Turkey from April 15 to April 22, 2021 in the Republic of Turkey.

At the beginning, guests were invited to the Center hall, where the official part of the event took place.

Mr. Ahmet Demirok, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Turkey to Turkmenistan made a report to the guests on the development of national tourism potential, achievements in recent years, and the contribution tourism makes to Turkey’s GDP. Thus, Mr. Ambassador noted that in 2022 Turkey received 50 million tourists, thereby becoming the 4th country visited by foreign tourists according to international ratings. But this is not the limit of possibility; in 2023, having received 56.7 million tourists, the country’s treasury received 54.3 billion US dollars, and in 2024 the goal is set to break the record, receiving 60 million tourists, and achieve an income of 60 billion US dollars!

Mr. A. Demirok noted that recently the interest of Turkmen tourists in Turkey has especially increased. According to official tourism statistics, in 2022, 45,249 citizens of Turkmenistan visited Turkey, and already in 2023 there was an increase of 167%, and the number of tourists reached 120,928. It was also noted that from April 1, the number of flights was increased from 9 to 11 direction Istanbul – Ashgabat, operated by Turkish Airlines. In the future, the opening of the Ankara-Ashgabat flight is being considered.

In order to get acquainted with Turkey, the Tourism Development and Promotion Agency (TGA) under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey annually receives representatives of the media, artists and travel agencies from many countries, including Turkmenistan.

Thus, as part of a study tour held in 2023, 8 media representatives from Turkmenistan visited Turkey.

On April 16, 8 representatives of travel agencies of Turkmenistan are leaving for Turkey. From 16 to 20 April 2024, they will take part in a four-day cultural program on history and gastronomy in Şanlıurfa and Gaziantep, where the Göbekli Tepe and Zeugma museums are located.

Artists and performers from Turkmenistan come to Turkey from time to time for various events.

The next speech from the official part was Mr. Mehmet Yas, Head of the Culture and Tourism Department at the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Turkmenistan, who, with his interesting presentations and wonderful videos, took all the guests present on a fascinating virtual tour of the tourist attractions of Turkey. These are Istanbul bridges, connecting continents and cultures, past and present, this is Cappadocia – the land of fairy tales, this is Turkaegean – the island of happiness, the Turkish Riviera – the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea, etc. Mr. Mehmet Yasa drew special attention to the fact that the TGA, created in 2019, is promoting the GoTurkiye brand

He noted that in order to become the leading tourism brand in the world and become a country that is replicated in its marketing communications strategies it is necessary to:

creating a variety of products using targeted and thematic brands
positioning all destinations with direct flights to Turkey as target markets
creating market diversity
extension of the tourist season to 12 months and its distribution to 81 provinces
increase in the number of high-value tourists
increase in average number of overnight stays and expenses per person

The next part of the reception continued in the courtyard under the open clear sky, between the Center and the Gaza Ertogrul Mosque. To the accompaniment of pleasant live Turkish music, performed by skilled musicians and melodies from popular Turkish TV series, the guests got acquainted with an exhibition of photographs of noteworthy tourist places in Turkey. The guests had an excellent opportunity to communicate, discuss business issues, and establish new contacts. At the same time, the organized buffet allowed the guests to taste delicious dishes of Turkish cuisine with ayran, soft drinks and, of course, the famous Turkish coffee and tea with sweets were offered to everyone.

It has become a good tradition of the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Turkmenistan to regularly hold meetings in Ashgabat on the occasion of the celebration of Turkey’s national tourism week, which further contributes to increasing interest in Turkey with huge tourism potential! Having visited such an interesting photo exhibition, I want to see these amazing places live and right now.

Berkeli Ataev.

(Photo report: Aina Ataeva)