43024 (The development of sustainable tourism in Turkey), страница 3

• Government interferences on prices of private tourism operations were stopped. Operations were allowed to determine their prices themselves, and also to use their choice of currency unit for their prices. It was the beginning for wider use of foreign currency prices.

Tourism investments operations in the public sector and government interferences on prices of private tourism operations were stopped. While the new investments at Southern and Western Turkey were not supported, the efforts for increasing the variety of tourist activities were emphasized (Turan 1997).

Between 1994 and 2001, the tourism sector in Turkey lost its acceleration due to the Gulf war, increasing terrorist activities and the earthquake in 1999. The fall of demand due to those events resulted in considerable price reductions. Consequently, the quality of tourist arrivals and economic benefits of international tourism decreased (Tarhan 1997). When it is compared to previous years, the increase in the number of tourist arrivals and tourism revenues were very low. In 2001, 11 700 000 foreigners visited Turkey, which was an increase of 11% from the previous year.

Table 2: Tourist arrivals and tourism revenues 2002-2005

Source: Turkish Statistical Institute

The following bar chart shows information about the change in the amount of tourists that entered Turkey from 1993 until 2007. The chart compares the amount of tourists that entered Turkey to the amount of tourists that entered Turkey the previous year.

Table 4: Change in the number of visitors on a year earlier (%)

Since 2001, the tourism industry has enjoyed an instant growth. Decreasing terrorist activities, intensive investments to the coastal region, political stability and better development policies resulted in a boom in terms of arrivals. The number of tourists who visited Turkey reached up to 14 million in 2003. The year 2004 also witnessed particularly strong growth, with the number of foreign tourists reaching significant 17.5 million. The revenues obtained from foreign tourists increased to USD 12.1 billion. According to the WTO, in 2005, Turkey had the highest growth rate registered in the world’s tourism. There were 21.1 million tourist arrivals, and total revenues were estimated to 14 billion USD which made 2005 the Golden Year for the Turkish tourism industry (see previous table).

In the following table the history of Turkish tourism since the year of 1980 is demonstrated graphically.

Table 5: International tourist arrivals and tourism receipts in Turkey since 1980

Importance of Tourism in Turkey

It is not easy to measure all the economic and developmental impacts of tourism in Turkey because the various components of the industry on both the supply and demand sides are closely linked to other segments of the economy. However, related statistical figures have facilitated an examination of the importance of international inbound tourism as a source of foreign currency earnings, as an employment generator, and as a revenue source for GNP. While it is possible to evaluate the contributions of tourism to the national economy, it is difficult to measure its contribution to overall development. (Tosun, Timothy, Ozturk 2003)

Turkey adopted tourism as an alternative economic development strategy to support new export-led growth strategies, to create more jobs and to establish a favourable image on the international platform (Tosun 1998).

Since 1980, the importance and contribution of tourism to the economy in Turkey has increased rapidly, and USD 13.929 million tourism revenues accounted for 4.1% of GDP in 2005 (see the following table).

Table 6: Employment in Tourism

(Source: Turkish Statistical Institute)

The tourism industry is the second largest employer after construction. It also has direct connection with 38 other sectors. In 2001, the direct employment in tourism accounted for 5.1% and the indirect employment accounted for 12.76% of the total employment (Ministry of Culture and Tourism).

Sustainable Tourism in Turkey

Turkey has been experiencing a surge in tourism activity, and is predicted to be the leading tourism destination in the Mediterranean together with Greece and Croatia by 2020. Tourism is concentrated along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts - the southwestern Anatolian coast of Turkey - an area identified by WWF as one of the most important for nature in the Mediterranean, and is also the most impacted by mass tourism development which could lead to the irreversible loss of its biodiversity by 2020. To avoid the destruction of its fragile coastline, the Government of Turkey adopted the Integrated Coastal Management approach aimed not only at nature conservation but also at preserving social and cultural integrity.

Since the tourism sector in Turkey was relatively new, there has been the opportunity to preserve natural, cultural, historical and archaeological assets of the country. Most of the prime tourism regions remain unspoiled, in spite of the rapid growth in arrivals. Contrary to some other countries, which suffered from saturation, improper development, a seriously damaged environment and many valuable natural assets as well as existing human settlements, Turkish tourism was prepared to develop in sustainable way. In order to develop sustainable tourism, the Ministry of Tourism determined certain principles (Arac 2001), such as suitable use of natural and cultural resources, continuous restoration and maintenance of the natural and cultural resources and protection of the tourists and hosts against adverse environmental effects (Ministry of Tourism 1994).

One of the first attempts to promote sustainable tourism was already in 1989, when the Ministry of Tourism launched the ATAK project (Southwest Coast Environmental Project). The aim was to provide environmental protection along Aegean and Mediterranean coastlines and to determine the deficiencies in infrastructure system. The main objectives of the project covered a wide range of issues such as planning, designing and construction of water supply and sewerage systems; wastewater treatment and disposal facilities; solid waste disposal facilities; and pollution control studies (Küce 2001; Arac 2001).

In general, Turkish tourism policies are aiming to extend the economic benefits from tourism to the people, while ensuring that policies in the same time environmentally sound and sustainable. Some of the tasks that The Ministry of Tourism are trying to carry out are elaboration and approval of land use plans in tourism areas and centres, the promotion of the country abroad and the follow-up the intervention of governmental bodies, local administrations, professional associations; and unions and non-governmental organizations (Ministry of Culture and Tourism).

Turkey has gradually put in action a body of legislation concerning tourism in order to regulate the establishment and operation of tourism operators, promote tourism development, protect and preserve certain vulnerable areas, and provide financing for certain projects requiring heavy investment.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism strategy

Turkey's tourism sector faced rapid growth, especially after 90’s, due to mass tourism. This occurs mainly because tourists, which are coming to Turkey, choosing this place because of its geographical location and the 3 S's –sun, sea, and sand. Furthermore, Turkey has the facilities needed to host mass tourism, and also has the “all inclusive” system of the last few years for attracting the tourists, with relatively high service. The latest strategy is to attract a smaller and more elite group of tourists rather than a large crowd that spends less, in case to reorganize mass-tourism into sustainable one. Conferences, boutique hotels, hunting, scuba diving, golfing, yachting and mountain climbing are the most important elements in this latest strategy. If the Ministry's “Turkey's Tourism Strategy 2023” plan can be implemented and diversified, Turkey's dependence on mass tourism will disappear and the sector will be able to contribute to the economy in every season of the year.

As the document describes itself,” tourism strategy of Turkey- 2023 is an effort that aims at providing extensions to management and implementation of strategic planning efforts and boosting the cooperation between public and private sectors of tourism with reference to the principle of “governance”.”

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey defines the following problems in today’s situation:

Developments towards mass tourism activities and particularistic approaches to tourism planning in Turkey have led to:

• Mass concentration at the Mediterranean and Aegean Coastal areas

• Distorted urban development\ house-building in back-shore and adjacent areas

• Deficient Infrastructure and environmental problems

In an effort to convert this adverse structure into a positive, favourable one, an integrated policy and strategy and application based approaches are being set within the scope of Tourism Strategy of Turkey-2023.

Turkey has set out plans for its tourism industry in the years leading up to 2023, when it will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic.

As Turkey's undersecretary of tourism and culture, Ismet Yilmaz, said “the country could attract 50m foreign visitors a year and $50bn (Ј25.2 billion) in revenue by 2023.” However, he stressed that Turkey may have to move away from the current dominant model of tourism to achieve its goals, (Today's Zaman, 03 March 2008 ) “For this to happen, the weight of sun, sea and sand tourism should shrink in the total tourism revenue figures while the share of other types of tourism increases,” Mr Yilmaz said. The minister added that, as well as establishing new resorts to attract wealthier visitors, the Turkish tourism industry would have to increase capacity in accommodation facilities to at least 1.25m beds. Turkey must also have a fleet of 500 planes, Mr Yilmaz predicted, as well as 5m people working in the tourism industry, ten conference centres, 40 marinas and 25 seaports.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry, which has completed its tourism strategy for the centennial of the Republic of Turkey in 2023, will create nine culture and tourism zones and seven tourism development corridors. By 2023, 10 tourism cities, 11 cruise ports, nine marinas and one airport will be part of the first leg of the tourism strategy; the first leg will be completed in 2013.