Minister of Culture and Tourism Ersoy's statement on Haydarpaşa and Sirkeci Stations: He also spoke about the music ban

Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy made statements on Habertürk TV.

Here are the highlights from Minister Ersoy's statements:

I had made predictions regarding the third quarter at the end of the second quarter. The predictions materialized as we expected. The last quarter also looks like it will be very good, and it even looks like it will slightly exceed the target. We switched to a new strategy in 2018. We moved to some changes and new practices. We said that while quantity was important in the past, quality is also important. We said we would target both visitor numbers and revenue. Due to Turkey's geopolitical position, there were crises in the past, and there are today. Unfortunately, we will face similar crises in the future. We said we need to make our sector immune to crises.

"WE HAVE A STRATEGY"

There are two important criteria. The first is the very accurate and intensive promotion of the product you have. You need to spread the destinations you target for visitors all over the world. The second is product diversity. In the past, we only went out with sea, sand, and sun. Now you see more than 60 products on the site; we could increase that to 100 if we wanted. These need to be branded. Turkey is the country least affected by the COVID crisis and the one that made the fastest recovery after COVID. We changed the promotion strategy. We are doing very intensive promotion by spreading it all over the world. We have a strategy. Turkish Airlines is the airline that flies to the most points in the world. We said every place where the red flag flies is a destination. We said we would launch all our products to the market.

"ALL ENTRIES AND EXITS ARE CLEAR"

The pandemic started in 2020. Just as we were getting over it, fires broke out in our southern and western regions. Two countries are at war. While we were talking about the earthquake of the century, the Israel-Palestine war happened. It continues in Iraq and Syria. A conflict environment started in Iran. The Russia-Ukraine war is above us. The Azerbaijan-Armenia tension continues in our east. Amidst all this, we are progressing thanks to the right strategies in line with the goals we have set. A slight growth in July. 2.6 percent growth in August. 6.2 percent growth in September. October data will be announced at the end of November. As far as we follow from the border gates, it is around 10 percent. It is slightly above the target in October. Visitor numbers are most realistically realized in Turkey. When you enter through the gate, your passport is scanned into the system. The passport police do not perform a manual entry. It is an error-free entry. All entries and exits are clear. Transit passengers are not added to visitor numbers. There are nearly 20 million transit passengers.

"WE ARE GROWING FAST IN THE CHINESE MARKET"

For example, the USA does not come to anyone's mind. It quickly exceeded 1 million last year. Hopefully, we will exceed 1.5 million this year. Even the US Embassy did not expect it. Very fast growth. We are doing serious promotion planning together with THY. For the first time, an advertisement was published on CNN İnternational. They decided to run ads for the first time in the middle of a broadcast. The third point is what rank you will appear in? We have been working intensively with CNN İnternational for 4 years. We are now growing fast in the Chinese market. The South Korean market is the same. The numbers we expect are coming. Last year we received around 280 thousand visitors. This year we will approach 600 thousand. Our goal in the US market is to reach 2.5 million. Poland is growing very fast when you look at it. The Chinese are coming for city tourism. They are coming for cultural tourism. Americans are coming everywhere. Antalya is increasing by more than 100 thousand Americans. One of the shining stars of this year is the German market. We are receiving visitors from all over the world.

"WE HAVE A TARGET OF 60 BILLION DOLLARS"

The market share of our citizens residing abroad is important. Our expatriates and resident citizens stay for 2 weeks. The average length of stay in Istanbul is 4.5-5 days. Those coming from Europe stay for 8-9 days. If they are coming from Asia or the USA with a long flight, they stay for 8 days. As long as capacity allows, every visitor is welcome. Day-trippers are also important to us. The main indicator is the per capita nightly income. We divided the per capita nightly income into two within itself, as foreign and domestic citizens. We increased it from 30 million tourists to 49 million. They are both coming more and spending more. We have a target of 60 billion dollars this year. Hopefully, we will achieve it. We announced the third-quarter figure. We have generated nearly 47 billion dollars in revenue from 24.6. Most of the tourists make their expenditures with credit cards. The Treasury and Finance Ministry and the Central Bank have made great progress in terms of keeping records. Our data is bank expenditures and foreign bank transfers. Both the number of tourists and revenue have increased.

"WE ARE ADVERTISING TO THE WHOLE WORLD"

The structure of the TGA (Turkey Tourism Promotion and Development Agency) is very important. It consists of 18 sector representatives. Only two people on the board of directors come from the Ministry. A share is collected from everyone. The board of directors decides how much will be spent on which activity of the TGA by the elected managers of those who pay the money. In 2018, 1.1 billion dollars of digital promotion was done in only 12 countries. In 2024, 114,325 promotions were made on national television in 38 countries. We are advertising to the whole world. We have made agreements in 45 countries regarding PR and hosting. We have representatives there. We are hosting over 3 thousand qualified journalists, opinion leaders, and tour operators from 83 countries in our country. They share their experiences. We have carried out 139 campaigns in 39 countries. We have held promotional events from gastronomy to culture in 23 countries. We were not in the top 20 on social platforms. We are currently in 2nd place on Instagram. We will probably pass Australia within 3 years. We are closing the gap. We are number one on YouTube and TikTok.

"WE ARE DOING A SEPARATE STUDY FOR EASTERN ANATOLIA"

It is important to reach every place where you will receive visitors and promote your product. We have done 20 destination promotions, themes, and product branding. We were only known for Antalya, now we are also bringing the Aegean to the forefront. We are doing a separate study for Eastern Anatolia. The Black Sea is a separate destination for us. Turkey is already an unrivaled country in cultural assets. Cappadocia is a destination in itself. You have the advantage of spreading the season over 12 months. Gastronomy and Istanbul can be visited in every season. It is important both in terms of spreading to 81 provinces and we are spreading it over 12 months.

"TARGET IS 64 BILLION DOLLARS AND 64 MILLION VISITORS"

We targeted 64 billion dollars in the Medium Term Program (OVP). You have to set the target correctly. We are working on targets based on products and countries. We know that it will slow down in July. Because the dates of the Olympics and the European Championship are known 4 years in advance. The important thing is to hit the target. If you want excuses, there are many. We are targeting approximately 64 million visitors. We will increase it every year from now on. We are in the super league now. We were in fifth place in the world last year, we will probably close this year in fourth place. Our goal is to enter the top 3. We need to work harder. We need to reach 80 million visitors. The thing we struggle with the most is perception management. Those who cannot produce work are usually very skilled at producing perception. Some people create a wrong perception about you.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO HAYDARPAŞA AND SİRKECİ STATION?

We visited the Venice Biennale several times. There will be a train here. The railway is a part of the culture of this place. It will be a culture, art, and public garden. There will never, ever be a shopping mall or hotel here. The Anatolian side really needs such an event space. It is our responsibility to do this. There is a public garden in Rami Barracks. It is not just a library there.

Such event spaces should be built in Haydarpaşa and Sirkeci. There is a union there. They say 'let it remain as a railway'. We are not spoiling its train feature anyway. The train will enter and exit there. We are preserving the station part. It will be operated as TCDD (Turkish State Railways) personnel. Exhibition areas will be created there. There will be an archeopark there.

The Chalcedon Archaeology Museum will be established. There is no museum on the Anatolian side. We will also turn the meat and fish complex into a Performing Arts Center. The lower part of the Haydarpaşa Station building will be a station operation. There will be a library, and there will be an exhibition hall on the upper floor. There will be museums in the silos. In the middle, there will be a special public garden just like in Rami Barracks. You are gathering all the events in a safe field.

You can reach it from the coast, from Marmaray, and there is a metro connection. There will also be a train in Sirkeci. There will be a nostalgic train service by TCDD between Kazlıçeşme and Sirkeci.

TCDD personnel will work in the station part. We will protect that line. We will also organize the square. We will connect Haydarpaşa and Sirkeci Stations by sea. We want to realize the first stage in October 2026 at the Istanbul Culture Road Festival. There is a migration museum. This was the departure point for our workers who first went to Europe.

"WE ARE ALSO READY TO SUPPORT THE PRIVATE SECTOR"

We started the culture road with Istanbul first. We decided to grow the business. We established the General Directorate of Events. A city is added every year. We aimed to make its content international. We also wanted to bring international culture and art events to our country. The Picasso exhibition came. Da Vinci came. There was a Bocelli concert in Istanbul. If you want to organize a big event as the private sector, we are in for that too. We will provide support. There will be financial support and other types of support. As long as such organizations come to our country.

MUSIC BAN AFTER MIDNIGHT

It is an issue that municipalities should manage. The Ministry of Environment and Urbanization has a regulation. Generally, municipalities make the decision. When residential areas and entertainment centers are intertwined while the city is being planned, problems can arise. There are local regulations in the world. This region can be a dining, drinking, and entertainment center. Decibel settings can be notified. It is a point that the municipality and the local people should decide together. I have visited many music spots in the world. The practice of controlling music has also started in the world. For example, it started closing at 23:00 in Croatia. Such a trend has started in countries.

VISA AT THE GATE AGREEMENT WITH GREECE

There have been around 180 thousand departures. We are not against them going to Greece from us. Greece is also coming to us. Let the passenger use their preference as they wish. We receive many passengers from our neighboring countries. It is very natural for them to receive from us as well. I don't see any problem. The system in Greece and our system are different. The system on the islands is different. There are family businesses there. There is no corporate structure when you look at it. The father is at the cash register, the mother is in the kitchen, and the children are serving. There are many such businesses. There are also large businesses. Now we have started something called 'Heritage to the Future'. I set a very ambitious goal. Whatever we have done in the name of archaeology, we will realize the same amount of work in the next 4 years. There are places where we have increased the source for excavation points by 60 times.

News Source: 12punto