We call Kaleiçi the apple of our eye, but…

The fires and loss of life in two separate hotels in Uludağ and Kartalkaya that we recently witnessed deeply saddened us as well as our country. As Antalya Kaleiçi hoteliers, it made us review our fire-related measures and self-criticize. As AKOED (Antalya Kaleiçi Hoteliers and Tradesmen Association), we have often stated that we want to cooperate with institutions to take the necessary measures against all factors, both internal and external, for Kaleiçi. We took action to complete the minor deficiencies in our accommodation places. However, we learned that all our tourism-operated businesses must replace their doors with fire-retardant doors. When we researched the order, we realized that it would take until the end of 2025 to produce the required number of doors for hotels and dormitories in our region. In addition, the inability to obtain permits for this change in our buildings, almost all of which are registered, means the closure of hotels and hostels in Kaleiçi.

The closure of our hotels and hostels in Kaleiçi and the city center means the closure of the income gate of small and medium-sized tradesmen in the city center of Antalya. It is obvious that it will harm the economy of the people of Antalya.

The fact that domestic and foreign tourists who make early reservations, mostly for July and August, cannot find a place to stay when they come to our hotels will also cause great damage to the country's tourism and economy.

For these reasons, we propose that we be given time until the end of the season to take our precautions in our hotels, and that the fire regulation be revised in a way that is suitable for the region, by prioritizing the safety of our guests and protecting our registered buildings, which are our cultural heritage, in our cultural heritage regions such as Kaleiçi, where there are registered buildings, and that a Special Region Tourism Operation Certificate be prepared for our accommodation places in registered areas. Because we see our guests as guests who have come to our home. For this reason, we argue that our registered buildings are actually houses and should be evaluated close to the house fire regulation.

The fact that inspections start from small hotels and licenses are canceled and sealed in small hotels before inspections of large hotels have even started creates unnecessary concerns among our small business owners that they are being written off. All sanctions such as making passive and sealing should be stopped until the inspections of all accommodation facilities are completed. Equal time should be given to all accommodation facilities regardless of scale. It should be foreseen how much the bed capacity in Antalya will decrease as a result of the inspection.

The largest share of tourism, which brings foreign currency to our country, belongs to Antalya. The starting point of tourism in Antalya is Kaleiçi.

In light of all this information, we invite the authorities to act quickly together in order to find a wise way to remedy our grievances.