ENGİN CEYLAN: "We hope to double tourism figures by 2025"

As GM Tourism and Management Magazine, we had a pleasant interview with Engin Ceylan, Board Member of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB), on 2025 tourism expectations, the visa crisis, early booking trends, and the impact of digitalization on the sector. Ceylan expressed his optimistic expectations for the 2025 season and drew attention to the current challenges faced by the tourism sector.

"We Have High Expectations for Growth in Tourism in 2025"

Stating that 2024 was quite good, especially despite the visa crisis, Engin Ceylan stated that his expectations for 2025 are high: "Last year, our outgoing (tourists going abroad) figures were quite good despite the visa crisis. The convenience provided by the visa at the gate and the intense demand for the Greek islands attracted those who wanted to travel abroad from Turkey. We expect this mobility, which reached 150 thousand levels in 2024, to increase even more in 2025. If external factors such as pandemics or wars do not come into play, I think we will double the growth in tourism in 2025." Ceylan stated that Turkey also has strong demand from main markets such as Germany, England and Russia on the incoming (tourists coming to the country) side. He also added that there is considerable interest from new markets such as the Middle East and Latin America.

"The Stable Course in Exchange Rates Affects Profitability in Tourism"

Touching on the effects of the stability in exchange rates on the tourism sector, Ceylan stated that the sector's pricing policies were affected by this situation: "There have been no major fluctuations in the exchange rate recently. However, this stable course may cause Turkey to become expensive compared to some destinations. At the same time, the limited increase in foreign currency also affects the profitability in the tourism sector. Nevertheless, Turkey is still an advantageous destination in terms of price-performance."

"Early Booking Has Now Become a Habit"

Stating that interest in early booking campaigns has increased in recent years, Ceylan said that holiday loans and installment opportunities support this process: "Until a few years ago, early booking campaigns were not fully adopted by consumers. However, early booking has now become a habit recently. Although there are some difficulties due to the leave planning of the working class, holiday loans and long-term installment opportunities facilitate this process. Holidaymakers who make early bookings get a significant cost advantage."

"How Will Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence Affect Tourism?"

Sharing his views on how the service-oriented structure of the tourism sector will be shaped by digitalization and artificial intelligence, Ceylan drew attention to the importance of human touch: "The tourism sector is not a sector that will completely shift to online platforms. Because travel is an experience business and we are actually selling a dream. Artificial intelligence can support the user experience, but one-on-one customer relations and trust are still very important. Travel agencies offer their customers personally experienced and tested recommendations. Therefore, artificial intelligence will be a complement to existing services rather than dominating the sector."

"Visa Crisis Makes Travel Difficult"

Touching on the visa problems on the agenda recently, Engin Ceylan stated that this situation negatively affects not only tourism, but also other areas such as business and health tourism: "The visa problem in Turkey negatively affects not only holiday travels, but also health tourism, education and business trips. We are in cooperation with our government to regulate visa appointment processes, intermediary institutions working with consulates, and to speed up the process. We believe that concrete steps should be taken in this regard."

Final Word: "The Sector Must Act Together for the Growth of Tourism"

Finally, emphasizing that the sector stakeholders should cooperate, Ceylan stated that audit mechanisms should be strengthened for the future of the sector: "Audit mechanisms need to be strengthened and sector players need to cooperate in order for the tourism sector to grow more healthily. As TÜRSAB, we will continue to support all kinds of work that will contribute to the sector."