Emrah Yılmaz Çavuşoğlu, Chairman of Camelot Maritime, emphasized the diversity of tourism in Turkey, saying, “In addition to sea-sun-sand tourism, we have a wide range of tourism types such as health, religious, cultural, and nature tourism. Tourism Week is an excellent opportunity to promote our country. During this week, we must showcase our advantages in tourism. 2024 will be a year of new records for our country’s cruise industry. Our tourism goal is 100 million tourists and 100 billion dollars.”
Turkey, which is one of the world’s most important tourism destinations, offers a variety of tourism segments, including sea-sun-sand, travel, nature tourism, health tourism, religious tourism, and cultural tourism.
Camelot Maritime, the first company to operate a foreign-owned cruise ship in Turkey, is led by Emrah Yılmaz Çavuşoğlu, who noted that the diversity in tourism is an advantage. He stated, “It is in human nature to travel, see new places, and explore. Scientific studies have shown that interacting with different cultures positively affects one’s mental well-being. All these activities form a significant sector under tourism. We have many advantages, from religious tourism to health tourism, from cultural tourism to sea tourism. Tourism Week is celebrated worldwide every year during the week of April 15-22, and this week is dedicated to promoting tourism.”
“Tourism Week Should Include Events and PR Activities”
Çavuşoğlu emphasized the importance of Tourism Week, saying, “It’s an opportunity for us. During this week, the promotion of our country should be done effectively. There are still many tourists who don’t know Turkey or even where it is located. If we can make the right promotions at the right time and organize the right events, we can ensure our country is well known. Turkey needs to be promoted properly in terms of sea-sun-sand tourism. When businesses see our cruise ports and the infrastructure at the ports, they are surprised. We need to highlight the aspects of our country that astonish the world. We need to do PR for our country professionally. Tourism Week can play a very important pioneering role in this promotion.”
“Target: 100 Million Tourists, 100 Billion Dollars!”
Çavuşoğlu, who emphasized that Turkey has some of the most special seas in the world, continued: “Cruise tourism has become a significant source of income for our country in recent years. The Turkish tourism sector achieved a $60 billion revenue and 60 million tourists in 2023. Our next goal is $100 billion and 100 million tourists. From January to December 2023, the number of cruise ships arriving at our ports was 1,192, with 1,542,522 passengers. With these numbers, we exceeded our target of 1.5 million cruise passengers for 2023. In January, 18 cruise ships arrived, and in February, 5 more, totaling 23 cruise ships visiting Turkey. We anticipated these numbers, and 2024 will see new records in the cruise industry.”
