INSURANCE PLAN FOR FOREIGN TOURISTS

government plans to offer THE TURKISH health insurance for foreign tourists to cover their C•VID-19 related health expenditures, in order to boost the tourism sector. “To secure trust, everything should be considered,” Timucin Guler, Culture and Tourism Ministry Promotion General Director stated.

Turkish and German tourism representatives discussed the future of tourism in Turkey in an online meeting by the German-Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK). As the Turkish government initiated the normalization period at the beginning of June, tourism establishments re-opened after implementing necessary measures. However, the lack of foreign tourists due to travel bans remains a problem.

The plans being offered include insurance costing 15 euros covering 3,000 euros in hospital expenditures for seven days of vacation. Additional plans costing 19 euros and 23 euros will cover 5,000 euros and 7,000 euros, respectively. There are various insurance packages for up to 10 days of vacation and foreign tourists can purchase the insurance from some airline companies, agencies at the passport checkpoints at airports, or online. “We also launched a promise letter system, where participating hotels cover the charge of extra stays if the customer is diagnosed with the virus and needs treatment or isolation,” Guler added.

SAFE TOURISM CERTIFICATION

Turkey’s safe tourism certification program focuses on the health and safety of passengers and personnel and measures for tests and transportation. As part of the program, the ministry created an infrastructure and system for safe travel during the normalization period and worked with international companies, sector representatives, and NG•s. “Almost 600 establishments received their certificates, and over 1,500 applications are pending,” Guler said, adding that the certificate is renewed every month. The authorized body makes monthly audits through secret customers, who visit these establishments and inspect every aspect of the certification program. There are QR codes on every certificate so the customers can see all the details of the audits by scanning the code.

Sector representatives hope hygiene measures and social distancing rules, as well as the safe tourism certification program, will give the confidence for tourists to make travel arrangements and revive the tourism sector.

GERMANY’S TRAVEL BAN

Norbert Fiebig, President of the German Travel Association (DRV) criticized the German government’s travel ban on Turkey, stating that Turkey offers a high quality and low-cost travel experience. Turkey’s beach holiday infrastructure is very advanced and is family-friendly, claimed Fiebig. “The pandemic is challenging the whole world, and it seems like it’s impossible to recover from this crisis without appropriate measures and government support. We’re in talks with the federal government because we don’t approve of the travel ban on Turkey,” he said.

Germany is seen as Turkey’s main tourism partner, as high numbers of German tourists visit Turkey every year. In 2019, a total of 5,027,472 German tourists arrived Turkey, 11.16 percent of all tourists, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. However, the interest in travel vanished in 2020 due to the pandemic and the number of German tourists in Turkey between January and April decreased by 55.61 percent to 356,696 compared to 2019.

A MORE FLEXIBLE APPROACH

Dr. Markus C. Slevogt, President of AHK said Turkey’s tourism numbers were very strong in 2019, with a total of 45.1 million tourists visiting the country. But the pandemic hit the tourism sector hard and caused a slowdown in one of the country ’s strongest sources of income. “The German government’s travel ban on Turkey continues, but I believe both sides should adopt a more flexible approach because everything will get back on track eventually,” Slevogt said, adding that Germany needs to consider the EU standards during this process but a solution for Turkey will surely come.

“During the outbreak, I stayed in Turkey and I can say that the Turkish government managed the process very professionally,” Slevogt claimed. The success of the Turkish health sector and the capacity of the intensive care units proved to be effective, he added. “When you take a look at Turkey’s pandemic statistics, you see that the government had a thorough understanding of how to cope.”

Timucin Guler, Culture and Tourism Ministry Promotion General Director: We launched a promise letter system, where participating hotels cover the charge of extra stays if the customer is diagnosed with the virus and needs treatment or isolation