TÜSİAİD released its report titled “Sustainable Tourism” with a seminar on September 13 in Istanbul Marti Hotel. Mr. Ertuğrul Günay, Minister of Culture and Tourism took part in the meeting presenting the report which examines the globally emerging sustainability theme and its impact on Turkey. The seminar launching the report was opened with a speech of Ms. Ümit Boyner, President of the Board of Directors of TÜSİAD.
Ms. Ümit Boyner indicated that the theme of “sustainable development” figures in the high priority policy space of TÜSİAD. Ms. Boyner mentioned the probable negative impact of the projected climate change on the tourism and she stressed the importance of sustainable tourism. She reminded that the Mediterranean basin is predicted to be completely polluted by the end of the century in the ordinary course of events and she expressed the need of adopting a sustainability concept incorporating the developing environmental issues around the Mediterranean basin. She also drew attention to the fact that the state should adopt the concept of sustainable development as a strategic approach. Ms. Ümit Boyner brought up the importance of the active participation of local interest groups and NGOs in the process of making this approach prevail on a national scale and she stated that a tourism policy built on a common vision will contribute to the qualitative development of the tourism sector.
Dr. Paulina Godfrey, Senior Sustainability Manager of the Hilton Worldwide made a keynote speech on the “Global Trends in the Sustainable Tourism”.
The report was presented in the session titled “Vision 2050, Turkey and the Sustainable Tourism” moderated by Prof. Dr. Metin Kozak. Ms. Okşan Atilla Sanön, President of the Sustainable Development Task Force of TÜSİAD and Ms. Zeynep Silahtaroğlu Baykal, President of the Tourism Working Group of TÜSİAD contributed to the session with their comments and opinions on the report.
The seminar proceeded with a session titled “Sustainability Movement in the Tourism Industry” where the experiences of the enterprises regarding their sustainability practice were shared. In the session moderated by and Ms. Zeynep Silahtaroğlu Baykal, President of the Tourism Working Group of TÜSİAD, Mr. Orhan Coşkun, CEO of Atlasjet Havacılık A.Ş., Mr. Mehmet Ersoy, President of the Board of Directors of ETS Group, Ms. Oya Narin, President of the Board of Directors of Martı Hotels, and Ms. Esin Güral Argat, President of the Board of Directors of Gürallar / Artcraft related their experience with their speeches.
The report titled “Sustainable Tourism”, has been prepared with the purpose of contributing to the establishment of sustainability based policies, within the context of the 2011-2012 work program of TÜSİAD, by the Sectoral Policies Committee of TÜSİAD, under the coordination of Tourism Working Group of TÜSİAD. The Tourism Working Group of TÜSİAD works on long term strategy of the tourism industry pursuing the sustainable growth of the sector, along the lines of the concept of sustainable development as stressed in the report “Vision 2050 Turkey”.
“Sustainable Tourism" Report
The “Sustainable Tourism Report” emphasizes the necessity of a comprehensive and thorough affirmation of the principle of sustainability by all actors involved in the tourism industry. There is considerable concern among members of the industry due to rising population levels and continuous depletion of natural resources, which are expected to hit tourism the hardest in the medium and long run. Aware of the financial burdens and extra costs accompanying sustainability, however, the “Sustainable Tourism Report” argues for governments to step up and encourage investors through incentive mechanisms for bringing about a smooth transition. TÜSİAD’s report also calls non-governmental actors into action and demands coordinated and cooperative partnership between all involved parties including local communities, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. The report uses the World Economic Forum’s latest assessments of global competitiveness in the global tourism industry and lays out case studies from Spain and Mexico describing various sustainability measures put into practice in competing markets. This comparative and analytical approach is then given support by a more sustained focus on the specific problems facing Turkey’s own tourism industry, most specifically the issue of the seasonality of demand. Noting the adverse effects of the seasonality of demand on the environment and formation of a permanent workforce, the “Sustainable Tourism Report” calls for the implementation of alternative tourism strategies which would spread tourism in a more homogeneous fashion across the year.