Turkey Will Welcome Back Americans This Summer

The country of Turkey is ready for visitors to return in 2021 and they’ve developed a new system for keeping tourists and citizens safe. The Safe Tourism Certificate was created last year as a way for tourism-related businesses in Turkey to ensure they’re following the most up to date global safety standards. To date, the certificate has been issued to 9,800 businesses and services in the country so they are now allowed to welcome back tourists. 

Any business related to tourism in any way is required to have the certificate including airports, hotels, restaurants, cafes, cultural centers, art and congressional facilities, marine tourism facilities, theme parks, ski resorts and of course, the famous hot air balloons of Cappadocia. Any hotel, motel or hostel able to accomodate 30 or more guests at a time are required to obtain the Safe Tourism Certificate. 

Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy discussed how successful the program has been so far. 

“Turkey was one of the first countries to launch a Safe Tourism Certification Program in June 2020,” he said.” In 2020, we welcomed 16 million guests in our country. Tourism safety has been our top priority over the last year with a certification  program that has become one of the best practices worldwide. With the safe, effective and disciplined practices and measures that we have carried out, our certification program has  become one of the most successful implementations in the world and we have had a  successful season. First, we made certification compulsory for accommodation facilities with 30 beds and above, and then increased the frequency of inspections to ensure that the  certified businesses maintain their certification. In our national vaccination program, more than 27 million doses of vaccine have been applied to Turkish citizens to date. The vaccination program, in which we prioritize tourism workers, will continue to accelerate in June.”

Cruising to Turkey

Turkey invested heavily in the cruise sector with the opening of Galataport Istanbul, the city’s new cruise port. The new port aims to bring well over a million cruisers into the country each year and new facilities with an easy, streamlined process means guests will get to spend more time exploring the ancient city of Istanbul. 

“2021 will be a year of safety in tourism season,” Minister Ersoy continued. “Turkey was a leading  country in safe tourism last year. 2021 will be a year of heightened safety. We are ready for  the 2021 summer season for more than 10,000 certified tourism facilities across Turkey.”