Alkaya recalled a recent statement from Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay that Turkey doesn’t need cheapskates as tourists and said: “We will manage to promote Turkey as a luxury tourism destination. It is not the quantity but the quality that matters, as our minister stated.” “We are not a country for cheap travel, and we don’t want to be. We don’t want this label attached to our country,” he said, adding that it was a priority for the group, which has two golf and spa resorts in Antalya, to break the image of Turkey as a destination for lower-budget travelers.
Cornelia De Luxe Resort Hotel General Manager Hakan Duran also joined Alkaya at the press meeting, held at the Cornelia Diamond Golf Resort & Spa’s Amphitheatre conference hall in Antalya.
Although the group’s year-end figures for 2009 were not yet available to share with the press, Duran said the group had reached its targets for 2009 despite a 6 percent fall in Turkey’s overall tourism revenues for the year. He announced that they were targeting 10 percent growth in 2010.
Duran said the group has received some of the most important awards in the global tourism sector including a listing in the “Conde Nast Johansens Recommended Hotels and Spas,” a prestigious guide that recommends luxury resorts to some 13 million readers. Cornelia De Luxe was awarded the Gold Award for First Choice Premier 5, while Cornelia Diamond was given the Gold Award First Choice 5* from giant travel agent Touristic Union International (TUI AG).
Duran said in the past year, the Cornelia chain saw some losses in the Russian and German markets but experienced a significant increase in the number of UK tourists. The increase in the number of UK tourists was the continuation of a consistent trend in the past two years, Duran said, adding that Turkey expected a major influx of tourists from Britain this year.
