The Governor of Antalya, Hulusi Şahin, stated that he was saddened by the fact that the city is not on the UNESCO World Heritage List and said, "A file needs to be prepared and efforts need to be made in this regard, we are currently working on Kaleiçi."

In Antalya, the tourism capital of Turkey, the season opening within the scope of 'Tourism Week' was held at Hadrian's Gate in the historical Kaleiçi. Governor Hulusi Şahin, Metropolitan Mayor Muhittin Böcek, AKTOB President Kaan Kavaloğlu and sector representatives attended the meeting. Stating that Antalya experiences tourism for 12 months, Governor Hulusi Şahin said, "The 2025 tourism season started well for Antalya. The indicators are also extremely good. Last year was a record year. I believe that this year will be another record year by breaking the records we broke last year. We have all the preparations for this. I can state that we have a more solid tourism infrastructure than in the past. All our stakeholders are working and we are in search of carrying out tourism activities with a very solid infrastructure without risking a very important tourism income. This is not just Antalya's tourism, but Turkey's tourism, and not just tourism, but Turkey's promotion and reputation. So the issue is not just money, it contains much bigger meanings. For this, we are working without leaving any deficiencies, without leaving any gaps," he said.

Saying that they expect to give good news this year as well, Governor Şahin also talked about transportation projects for tourists to visit the city center more. Expressing that Antalya Airport is a source of honor and pride, Governor Şahin said, "Antalya Airport is Turkey's largest airport after Istanbul Airport. It is one of the largest airports in the world with a capacity of 82 million. We can't be proud enough of this. There were big accumulations all of a sudden, we will no longer experience these. There are some places related to exits and we are working on them," he said.

FIRE INSPECTION IN HOTELS

Governor Şahin said that in the inspections in accordance with the fire regulations in the hotels, the relevant units give a reasonable time according to the deficiency of each hotel, "If it sees a deficiency in the re-inspection, it then closes it. Of course, this does not include those who do not have any licenses, those who are completely illegal. They are already illegal, they should already be sealed automatically. So those you say are closed are actually those who do not have any licenses. But those inspection processes are continuing for those who have licenses. It is not easy, of course. A whole city. There are 2,500 tourism businesses, 650 thousand beds. Therefore, inspecting all of them at once exceeds the capacity of the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Fire Department. First of all, businesses documented in a simple manner were prioritized. There is also a reason for this. Because they only received this document with a declaration. That is, they had not seen any inspection," he said.

Noting that there is no distinction between tourism business certificate and simple certificate, Governor Şahin said, "They are all inspected and will be inspected. Our approach is this; if there is a fire, God forbid, if there is a fatal incident, we will pay a very heavy price for it. Not just the lives we lost, that is already something that has no equivalent. Can a person's life be measured with money? But beyond that, there is a risk of losing billions of dollars. Therefore, no one can take this risk. We are doing these inspections to make the sector stronger and as a result of these inspections, you will see that we will have tourism facilities with a much more solid infrastructure. What is important for us is the completion of this process, it is not correct to only connect the inspections to the door. There are many elements. We are monitoring all of them and they will be finished as supplies are completed in the process," he said.

HEART OF THE CITY

Governor Şahin stated that Kaleiçi is the center and heart of Antalya tourism and said, "Those who come to Antalya and do not see Kaleiçi cannot be said to have fully recognized Antalya. Therefore, what we always try to do is that whether they come to Belek, Alanya or Kaş, they should definitely come to Kaleiçi. All our efforts are on this. We are trying to strengthen our infrastructure in Kaleiçi. The boutique hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues here must be of high quality and appeal to everyone. Our Metropolitan Municipality has a project at the pier. We are doing a study in Mermerli. Hıdırlık is about to be finished, it is becoming very beautiful. The focus of all of us is Kaleiçi, our flagship. Of course, there is a sad thing. The fact that no place in a city like Antalya is on the UNESCO World Heritage List hurts me. A file needs to be prepared and efforts need to be made in this regard, we are currently working on Kaleiçi," he said.

640 KM COASTAL CONTROL

Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Muhittin Böcek also said that they are trying to keep the sea clean with electronic ship inspections and thermal cameras on the 640 km coast from Gazipaşa to Kaş, "In Antalya, there are 2,734 businesses affiliated with our Ministry of Tourism. 1582 of these have simple accommodation and licenses issued by the municipalities. On the one hand, transportation, on the one hand, infrastructure, on the one hand, protecting our seas, we have 36 treatment plants and we are currently investing 5.5 billion liras as ASAT again. On the one hand, there is capacity increase in Kundu. We are increasing it by 100 percent. I hope we will have successful years," he said.

NEW TARGET

AKTOB President Kaan Kavaloğlu also stated that a very big record was broken last year with 17 million and said:

"Our goal this year is to match this record. The season has started. Actually, the season started with Ramadan Bayram. Hotels have completed their renovations and restorations, especially in the winter months. We had a serious preparation period for the season. Currently, both the weather conditions are very suitable and there will be a significant increase in the number of tourists with the start of the Easter period. By the end of April, we will have achieved almost the same figure as last year. Therefore, we will start to increase as of May. We expect this. Our real competitors are Greece, France, Italy and Spain. So we compete with them. We compete with their prices. Of course, there is an inflationary pressure on us. Our government's exchange rate policy is very important for us. The fixed exchange rate policy causes our expenses to increase and our income to remain constant. But in this sense, as of the end of June, we will have a very significant increase in income. Our prices are actually fully competitive."

Kaleiçi is surrounded by inner and outer horseshoe-shaped walls, most of which have been demolished and destroyed. The walls are a joint work of the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods. The walls have 80 bastions. There are about 3,000 houses with tiled roofs inside the walls. The characteristic structures of the houses not only give an idea about Antalya's architectural history, but also reflect the lifestyle, traditions and customs in the region in the best way. Kaleiçi is the name given to the city center surrounded by sea and land walls located within the borders of Muratpaşa district of Antalya. The streets and structures of Kaleiçi bring the traces of Antalya's history to the present day.