President Cavusoglu introduced the beauties of Denizli to tourism actors in Antalya.

Denizli Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Bülent Nuri Çavuşoğlu met with tour operators in Antalya to further enhance Denizli’s tourism potential in light of the initial discoveries presented at the tourism brainstorming conference held last month, where he shared the city’s wealth and beauty.

In the ‘Designing the Future of Denizli’ brainstorming conference organized by the Denizli Metropolitan Municipality last month, aimed at showcasing Denizli’s riches with collective intelligence and laying the foundations for its future, Mayor Bülent Nuri Çavuşoğlu met with tour operators in the tourism capital, Antalya. In addition to Mayor Çavuşoğlu, former Minister of Tourism Bahattin Yücel, Metropolitan Municipality Secretary General Bülent Bozbaş, scientists, representatives of the tourism sector, and many leading tour operators from various sectors attended the meeting. Presentations were made to revive Denizli tourism during the meeting, and representatives from the tourism sector and tour operators asked their questions, gaining information from Mayor Bülent Nuri Çavuşoğlu. Mayor Çavuşoğlu expressed his satisfaction in meeting with representatives of the sector that organizes tours to many locations in Turkey, stating they continue to work with collective intelligence to develop Denizli tourism.

“We will spread tourism across the entire city”

Recalling that they have drawn a roadmap based on the initial discoveries from the ‘Designing the Future of Denizli’ brainstorming conference, Mayor Çavuşoğlu said, “To revive Denizli tourism, we have progressed to the second step of the work we initiated in our previous brainstorming conference regarding how we can achieve tourism that spreads across the whole of Denizli, not just limited to the city tourism of Pamukkale. We organized a beautiful event. We thank our friends in Antalya for their hospitality. I hope that Denizli tourism will not only be limited to Pamukkale for 12 months but will also include its gastronomy, traditions, culture, history, and nature, and I believe we can manage this entire process together.”

Metropolitan Municipality supports Denizli’s tourism beauties

Former Minister of Tourism Bahattin Yücel stated that he found the efforts to promote Denizli’s tourism riches to be quite successful, noting, “Antalya receives around 18 million foreign visitors annually. The number of visitors coming to Pamukkale is about 10% of that figure. Our entire goal is to turn these visitors coming to Antalya into a culture tourism center for Denizli, not just for day trips, through a system that will market Denizli’s other historical and archaeological values correctly.” Metropolitan Municipality Secretary General Bülent Bozbaş stated that they had a very productive meeting and believed that this discussion with tour operators would bring beauty to the city. Bozbaş said, “We are especially working on how we can attract tourists coming to Pamukkale to the center and even to the countryside. We are excited and hopeful. Hopefully, we will connect this excitement with the investments we are making in the city with our people.”

Tourism professionals are hopeful

Orhan Sancar, PEGAS Touristik’s Coordinator for Russia and CIS, expressed great satisfaction in hosting such an important gathering, stating, “About 100 professionals attended this first-ever meeting aimed at drawing attention to the entirety of Denizli, and it was a successful meeting. If physical tours are also organized to these promoted places, it will be even more successful.”

Hamit Kuk, Chief Advisor to the President of Travel Agencies, emphasized that Denizli is one of the cities that stands out with both its historical and natural beauties, stating that promoting the beauties outside of Pamukkale is very important. Kuk remarked, “We have always known about the travertines of Denizli. We have seen that there are other beautiful places apart from these. I believe it can be an attraction center for cultural tours in the domestic market.”

Recep Yavuz, General Manager of NBK Touristik, pointed out that Denizli is a destination that has proven itself in tourism and is continuously developing, stating, “We found this meeting to be very productive as tourism potentials. It was very nice to have our opinions solicited by the city’s prominent figures. This first step was very important, and I congratulate those who contributed.”

Onur Özer, COO of Meeting Point Turkey, also expressed the importance of the highest levels of local government meeting with tourism actors who bring tourists from abroad in Antalya. Özer stated, “Even though I have been in my profession for many years, it was really very productive to hear about beauties that I have not seen or heard about here. For us, Denizli is no longer just Pamukkale. It is very important that the Metropolitan Municipality has started this work as part of a plan; I believe this is just the beginning and that there will be continuity.”