Trabzon Tourism Workshop, organized by our University and Trabzon University under the authority of Trabzon Governorship, was held at Prof. Dr. Osman Turan Culture and Congress Center in order to identify, evaluate, find solutions, and plan actions for tourism problems in Trabzon.  Evaluations were made on the past, current situation, future of tourism, determination of sector problems, determination of common sense solution proposals, and other related issues. Participants of the workshop included our Rector Prof. Dr. Hamdullah ÇUVALCI, Trabzon University Rector Prof. Dr. Emin AŞIKKUTLU, Trabzon Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TTSO) President Erkut ÇELEBİ, Trabzon Commodity Exchange (TTB) Assembly Chairman Nevzat ÖZER and the Chairman Eyyüp ERGAN, Trabzon Union of Chambers of Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESOB) President Metin KARA, Trabzon Provincial Director of Culture and Tourism Tamer ERDOĞAN, TTSO council members, representatives of Karadeniz Technical University and Trabzon University, and tourism stakeholders.

'These initiations are vital for economy'

Stating that scientific institutions can contribute to tourism in many ways, our Rector Prof. Dr. Hamdullah ÇUVALCI said, "Tourism is now an important source of income in Trabzon. While the number of international tourists in Turkiye increased by 15 percent last year, it increased by 66 percent in Trabzon. As a university, we work on health tourism. Especially many patients come from Georgia. Around 6 thousand patients from different countries visited KTU last year. We have a health tourism turnover of approximately 20 million TL, which is not much. Georgia's health expenditure abroad is around 600-700 million dollars. We need to determine how to improve and diversify tourism with the contributions of scientific institutions.  We may not be able to reveal this in a day with such workshop programs, but these initiations are important. For example, we can discuss a ring project for Uzungöl, which is important for Gulf countries. It takes two hours to arrive at Uzungöl in the summer. We need to find a way to benefit from health tourism."

'We will be open to each suggestion'

Stating that Trabzon can become the shining star of the Black Sea, Trabzon University Rector Prof. Dr. Emin Aşıkkutlu said, "As a commitment, I would like to declare at this workshop that we will be open to each suggestion that will shed light on the rise of our tourism sector and that we will contribute to every project. Trabzon is a much more fortunate city with its mountains, plateaus, sea, villages, cuisine, nature, history, education, bread, climate, football, and people. As Trabzon University, we will always be at the forefront to turn this chance into an advantage in terms of the tourism sector."

Mr. Çelebi, Ergan, and Erdoğan thanked the participants

In the first part of the workshop, sector representatives and public institutions made presentations about the studies carried out in the field of tourism, International Health Tourism, Tourism Investments, Tourism Companies' Perspectives on Tourism, and 'Future Vision in Tourism'. TTSO President Erkut ÇELEBİ, TTB President Eyyüp ERGAN, and Trabzon Provincial Director of Culture and Tourism Tamer ERDOĞAN thanked the participants and emphasized the importance of this Workshop in Trabzon Tourism.

3 Different Topics were Discussed

After the opening of the workshop, Trabzon Tourism was discussed in 3 different sessions by the Working Groups consisting of tourism stakeholders in the 2nd part. Problems and solution proposals were discussed in 3 different halls regarding Alternative Tourism Types Specific to Trabzon, Institutionalization of the Tourism Sector in Trabzon, and Sustainability in Trabzon Tourism. The debates and reporting took about 5 hours.

The Results of the Workshop will Guide us

Our Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Cemil RAKICI, who made the closing speech of the workshop, said that as a university, they organized the workshop in order to contribute to the development of Trabzon tourism. Prof. Dr. RAKICI said, "All these problems discussed in our workshop today were to eliminate the existing deficiencies in Trabzon. As well as the problems, important solution suggestions from our working groups were also included in the reports. I wish it to be beneficial to our city and region and thank the participants." It was reported that the guiding report, which is the Master Plan prepared at the Trabzon Tourism Workshop, will be shared with the public.

 

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