17.05.2026 09:20
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced that free public beach projects will be expanded in 2026. Stating that the number of public beaches serving in tourism regions such as Bodrum, Marmaris, Antalya, Belek, Kemer, and Side will be increased from 20 to 23, Ersoy said new beaches will be opened in Bitlis Adilcevaz, Sinop İnceburun, and Samsun Yakakent. Minister Ersoy stated that the public beaches provide five-star hotel comfort and have received great interest.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy met with journalists after the opening program of the Eskişehir Culture Route Festival. At the table, Minister Ersoy was accompanied by Eskişehir Governor Erdinç Yılmaz, former Minister of Energy and Natural Resources and AK Party Eskişehir Deputy Fatih Dönmez, former Minister of Family and Social Policies and AK Party Eskişehir Deputy Ayşen Gürcan, AK Party Eskişehir Deputy İdris Nebi Hatipoğlu, AK Party Eskişehir Provincial Chairman Gürhan Albayrak, and AK Party MKYK Member Mürsel Çavdar.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy made evaluations on many topics, from tourism to cultural heritage, from international events to promotion strategies, in the meeting he held with press members. Stating that Turkey aims to establish a structure resistant to crises in tourism, Minister Ersoy stated that promotion activities have been strengthened with the Turkey Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA), and product and destination diversity has been increased.
Emphasizing that Turkey maintains its position as an "island of stability," Ersoy said that mobility has started again in international reservations despite the war environment. Drawing attention to the contribution of Culture Route Festivals to city economies, Minister Ersoy stated that Turkey has been moved to a stronger position in global tourism with the Formula 1 organization, public beach projects, return of cultural assets, and international promotion efforts.
"OUR GOAL IN TOURISM IS TO MAKE THE SECTOR RESISTANT TO CRISES" This geography is a very beautiful geography. There were crises in the past, there are crises today, and unfortunately there will be crises in the future. That is why when we changed our tourism strategy in 2018, our primary goal was to make our sector immune to crises. In this context, we established the Turkey Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) in 2019. The aim here was to carry out stable, intensive promotion, and then to diversify products. While sea, sand, and sun were at the forefront in tourism in the past, today we are talking about a much wider spectrum. We have one hundred products, but we highlight and emphasize sixty of them, achieving very high product diversity. Twelve-month excavation programs and the Legacy to the Future project were implemented for this reason. In the field of cultural heritage, Turkey has an unrivaled treasure.
"WE PLACED GASTRONOMY AT THE CENTER OF TOURISM STRATEGY" In the past, gastronomy was seen as a complementary element of tourism; but today it has become a fundamental component at the center of our tourism strategy. Together with TGA, we have a strong strategic partner like Turkish Airlines. By providing direct flights to 350 points, it expands our global reach. With our new strategy, we have also increased resource and destination diversity. Every point where THY flies is now a potential target destination for us.
"TURKEY, PROMOTING IN NEARLY 200 COUNTRIES, RESISTANT TO CRISES, AND AN 'ISLAND OF STABILITY'" In the past, we received visitors from six to seven markets. Now we have become a country that promotes very intensively in nearly 200 countries, bringing visitors from every point above the red flag. Our immunity to crises has increased. There is no winner in war, and those who say they lost nothing in war do not exist. Everyone’s distance from the war zone, and their interactions vary according to the position they take. But under the leadership of our President, Turkey's peaceful foreign policy is very effective. In the vicinity of Turkey, which is an island of stability, there have been very intense conflicts in the last few years, and under the leadership of our President, our country, with its recent policies, is in the position of a country trying to end wars and bring peace acting as a "peacemaker."
What Turkey does to be an Island of Stability is this: You need to be strong not to enter a war; if you are not strong, they involve you in the war anyway. In that respect, Turkey's investments in the defense industry are very, very important.
"RESERVATION FLOW FROM ABROAD HAS SIGNIFICANTLY ACCELERATED" The flow of reservations from abroad is not at the level of the first days of the war; it has accelerated significantly. On some days, last year's figures are even being matched. Returning to normal entirely depends on achieving a final ceasefire. However, even though a ceasefire has not yet been achieved, we had decided to extend early reservation campaigns in the accommodation sector until April and May this year. This process has been prolonged a bit due to the war. Currently, the reservation flow has started to reach last year's levels on some days.
"TURKEY DOUBLED ITS PROMOTIONAL INTENSITY AND INTERACTION IN ALL TARGET DESTINATIONS" We announced the first quarter tourism figures, achieving a growth of 4.2 percent. If the war had not started on February 28, this figure could have reached much higher levels. Our country began to feel the negative impacts as of March. The second quarter will be a period where the effects of the war are felt more intensely. Despite this, from the very first moment the war started, Turkey doubled its promotional intensity and interaction in all target destinations.
We are carrying out very intensive promotional activities in every market that is adversely affected or shows growth potential. We use different methods on a country basis; we change strategies because the priority reasons for preference vary in each market. Therefore, we continue our work with different products and different collaborations.
"WE CONTINUE OUR WORK WITH THE SECTOR BY DETERMINING WEEKLY ROADMAPS" Our primary goal is to be minimally affected by this process in the second quarter and to achieve rapid recovery and growth if a final and lasting peace is achieved soon. In this direction, we are carrying out all necessary work by holding regular meetings with our sector. We are also conducting very intensive discussions with international tour operators and airlines. We follow the process week by week.
Initially, there was a global negativity and concern. However, afterwards, the downward trend has started to give way to an upward movement again. We predict that daily reservations will again approach pre-war levels. Currently, we continue our work with the sector by determining weekly roadmaps.
"WE ARE INCREASING THE NUMBER OF PUBLIC BEACHES SERVING AT 20 POINTS ACROSS TURKEY TO 23 AS OF 2026" You know our public beach projects. We implement the free public beach application, especially in regions with high tourism traffic. We prefer locations with high tourist traffic such as Bodrum, Marmaris, Antalya, Belek, Kemer, and Side. We especially choose Blue Flag areas, the most demanded and with strong accessibility.
We designed these beaches with the comfort of a five-star hotel. We offer both free entry and a high standard of service. Our public beaches are in high demand. Accordingly, we continue to increase their number each year, making them available to our citizens and visitors in more locations.
As of 2026, we are further expanding our free-entry public beach projects. In this context, work continues on our new public beaches in Bitlis Adilcevaz, Sinop İnceburun, and Samsun Yakakent. We are increasing the number of public beaches serving at 20 points across Turkey to 23 by 2026.
"WE ARE PLANNING THE FORMULA 1 ORGANIZATION WITH A MULTI-FACED TOURISM AND EVENT STRATEGY" We have established a special team within the Turkish Tourism Development Agency for the Formula 1 organization. In this process, we are working in strong coordination with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, as well as the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Turkish Automobile Sports Federation. We are talking about a very important organization brought back to our country through the persistent follow-up of our President. This time, we do not see the process limited only to the race week.
We are working on packages that will enable visitors to stay longer in Turkey. For example, we aim for visitors to come a week before the race, vacation in the Aegean or Mediterranean, then participate in the Formula 1 organization, or extend their holidays after the race and spend time in different destinations.
We will also support this process with cultural and artistic events. We hold regular meetings with promotion teams and plan the organization with a multi-faceted tourism and event strategy. Formula 1 may be scheduled to take place in October 2027, but for us, the process has effectively already started.
MANY BUSINESSES SAY, "WE DID A WEEK'S WORTH OF BUSINESS IN ONE DAY" At the Turkey Culture Road Festival, we aim for a structure that spreads equally across seven regions. Thus, we aim to directly reach approximately 65-70 percent of Turkey's population. Our main goal is to reach the widest possible audience and ensure our citizens effectively meet with culture and art. In this way, we both support cultural and artistic life and contribute to our artists. This is already one of the main areas of responsibility of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The festival also has a very significant economic impact. We receive very positive feedback from our local tradespeople. Many businesses say, "We did a week's worth of business in one day." Therefore, the first question they ask after the festival is usually, "When will you come next year?" Holding festivals on the same date each year creates serious economic activity in the city. In fact, many businesses state that they achieve nearly two months' turnover during the festival period.
"APPROXIMATELY TWO-THIRDS OF THE CULTURAL ASSETS RETURNED TO TURKEY THROUGHOUT THE REPUBLICAN HISTORY HAVE BEEN BROUGHT BACK IN THE LAST 25 YEARS" First and foremost, we believe that cultural artifacts should be exhibited where they belong, and the world must now accept this. In Turkey, the legal regulation on this issue was made in 1903. Therefore, there are legally different situations between artifacts taken abroad before 1903 and those smuggled after 1903. After taking office, we elevated the Anti-Smuggling Unit to the departmental level. This allows us to increase both the number of teams and their authority and expertise capacity approximately threefold. Diplomatic and legal processes thus proceed more strongly.
Secondly, we signed bilateral protocols with source countries, buyer countries, and countries along transit routes. This also had a very significant impact. For example, litigation processes for an artifact in the United States can normally take 5-10 years and incur millions of dollars in costs. However, in countries with protocols, these processes can be reduced to a few months, and legal costs decrease significantly.
Another important issue is deterrence. Today, it is very well known in the world: if an Anatolian-origin cultural asset has been illegally taken abroad, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey will definitely pursue it. Thanks to our advanced tracking systems, the artifact is detected as soon as it surfaces, and a strong legal battle is initiated. In the end, that artifact is recovered at all costs.
Additionally, the Anti-Smuggling Department works very intensively in the field. Teams travel from province to province, village to village; they meet citizens in coffeehouses. The greatest support comes from the tips provided by our citizens. Then, our security forces, the Ministry of Interior, and the Ministry of Justice quickly intervene as necessary. Approximately two-thirds of the cultural assets returned to Turkey throughout the Republican history have been brought back in the last 25 years. Nearly half of these artifacts were brought to Turkey in the last eight-year period.
"ONE-ON-ONE RELATIONSHIPS ARE VERY IMPORTANT IN THESE PROCESSES" Turkey has a vast cultural treasure. Göbeklitepe, in particular, is now in an unrivaled position worldwide. In this context, we appeared at the Colosseum for the first time last year and received great interest. One of the most prestigious areas of the Colosseum, which receives approximately six million visitors annually, was allocated to us. We aimed to increase the interest of cultural tourists from Italy in Turkey. At the same time, the Colosseum is a very important center attracting cultural tourism visitors from all over the world. Thus, we had the opportunity to introduce Göbeklitepe and Turkey's cultural heritage not only to Italian visitors but also to tourists from everywhere. We achieved both of our goals and were extremely pleased with the resulting interest.
Later, during our meetings with the Italian Minister of Culture, we expressed our desire to continue this cooperation. There was also great interest on the other side. In this context, we proposed bringing the Troy Exhibition to Rome. The reason for this is that Rome's founding story is based on Troy. We will open the Troy Exhibition at the Colosseum in Rome on June 11.
Meanwhile, the Göbeklitepe Exhibition continues in Berlin. We will continue such work, especially in international source destinations and important centers with high visitor traffic.
One-on-one relationships are very important in these processes. Without establishing strong relationships with relevant ministries, general directorates, and institutions, it is not possible to use such prestigious spaces.There have been cases where some countries were not granted these areas despite very high budgets being offered. The issue here is not only financial means; it is about establishing the right relationship, convincing the other party, and creating a cultural cooperation model where both sides benefit.
"MINI SERIES REACHED BILLIONS OF VIEWS AND CLICKS" We know that Turkish series have a very strong impact in target countries. Therefore, we shifted to a mini-series strategy. Frankly, these projects achieved success beyond our expectations. These contents, which we broadcast on social media platforms in target countries, reached billions of views and clicks. Through these contents, we promote Turkey's tourism destinations, cultural heritage, and archaeological values. Seeing the success achieved, we decided to take the process one step further. At this point, we held important meetings with producers. They already needed such support.
Within this scope, we created a new support model. As the Ministry and the Turkey Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, we will now support TV series and film projects that include the promotion of Turkey, its cultural values, and priority destinations in their scripts.
Several criteria stand out here. First, how and with which elements Turkey is included in the script will be important. Second, the viewing rates and impact of the production in our target destinations will be taken into account. Support will be provided for each episode through a calculation model created based on these criteria. Hopefully, we will start implementing the first supports by 2026.
"IF YOU ARE ORGANIZING AN EVENT THAT WILL MAKE A SPLASH ON AN INTERNATIONAL SCALE, WE WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH STRONG SUPPORT" Turkey is now moving towards becoming one of the important centers not only for cultural and artistic events but also for international organizations, congresses, and major sports events. Thus, you become a country that is included in the world events calendar under all conditions. We have very important organizations this year as well. We aim to reach over 100,000 visitors at the Kanye West concert to be held on May 30. There are other important events of international scale, such as the Andrea Bocelli concert. For football fans, the UEFA Europa League Final on May 20 also creates great excitement. Currently, tickets for the final match are completely sold out. We are entering a significant week where Turkey will host a very high number of visitors. It is not necessary for all of these events to be our own organization. Our approach is to act in strong cooperation with all organizers. If you are organizing an event that will make a splash on an international scale, we will provide you with strong support. For example, we are currently carrying out an intensive promotional campaign abroad for the UEFA Europa League Final. Similarly, during the COP31 process to be held in November 2026, we will conduct a very comprehensive international promotional campaign, especially starting from August.
This is, in fact, one of the main duties of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Turkey Tourism Promotion and Development Agency. We are working to make Turkey a center for international events. Within this scope, we are also creating new digital platforms. Two new structures are being established under the names "Turkey Events" and "Istanbul Events." Thus, alongside GoTurkey, we will have created new promotional and communication channels where international events can be followed more visibly worldwide.