Turkey's recent political and economic relations, the impact of Turkish TV series on the region, curiosity about Turkish life style, Turkey's natural beauties, and an atmosphere of freedom all led to an increase of Arab tourists coming to Turkey by 98 percent in the past five years.
Speaking to the Anadolu Agency (AA), Turkey's Cultural Attache in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sedat Gonulluoglu said that, between 2007 and 2011, the number of Kuwaiti tourists visiting Turkey went up 330 percent, tourists from the UAE went up 27 percent, tourists from Qatar went up 20 percent and tourists from Bahrain went up 16 percent.
"Arab tourists who visit Turkey want to come again or they advise close friends to visit Turkey," Gonulluoglu indicated.
"Arab tourists, in general, spend five time more compared to Western tourists," Gonulluoglu stressed.
"The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism have allocated two million USD for Turkey's promotion in the Gulf countries," Gonulluoglu also said.
"International Coalition in Economy Project"
Meanwhile, Turkish members of the "International Coalition in Economy Project", led by Deputy Chairman of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party Bulent Gedikli returned to Turkey after a successful trip to Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.
The project was launched to establish "sectoral models" of Turkey in regional and neighboring countries and to increase Turkey's economic cooperation with the regional countries.
Bulent Gedikli said that, during their 11-day trip, they had a chance to meet with representatives of various chambers of trade, ministers, bureaucrats and businesspeople.
"We noticed in the countries we have visited that there is a high amount of love and sympathy towards Turkey and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan," Gedikli stressed.
"The Gulf countries do not just want to deal with oil and natural gas. They want to enter new sectors," Gedikli said.
"Turkey needs to assume more important roles in such countries and be more active," Gedikli noted.
"Officials we have met in the Gulf countries have expressed their interests in erecting organized industrial zones as in Turkey," Gedikli stated.
"We can be present in Saudi Arabia in the construction of housing and great infrastructure projects. There have been demands from the Turkish defense sector. Surely, health tourism is highly important as well," Gedikli added.
Turkey's recent political and economic relations, the impact of Turkish TV series on the region, curiosity about Turkish life style, Turkey's natural beauties, and an atmosphere of freedom all led to an increase of Arab tourists coming to Turkey by 98 percent in the past five years.
