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| Ali Karakus, director of the Office of the Cultural and Information Counsellor under the Turkish Embassy / Courtesy of Nas Communication |
Ali Karakus, director of the Office of the Cultural and Information Counsellor under the Turkish Embassy, said that his country aims to attract 50 million visitors by 2023 with its renowned golf tourism in Antalya, Belek region.
"Koreans, I am not sure why, it may be because of the orientation of their travel agent, but the travel-lovers visit limited areas in Turkey, such as Istanbul, Cappadocia and Pamukkale," said Karakus during an interview with The Korea Times on Thursday at the Korea World Travel Fair (KOTFA). "Unfortunately, they only enjoy about 10 percent of what Turkey can provide.
"Of course, we received Koreans' reflections of their tour to Turkey and we know they were satisfied. But Turkey has many different products to offer," the tourism director said.
Turkey has been offering various cultural experiences with sports activities including golf. Currently the Eurasian government is promoting the southern part of Turkey for golf tourism as the golf courses have Bermuda grass and a perfect Mediterranean climate. In 2013 and 2014, golfer Tiger Woods participated in the Turkish Airlines Open in Antalya, where European golf magazines have been choosing as a best golf destination regularly since 2008.
The director acknowledged that Turkey has disadvantages as a golf destination for Koreans due to its long travel distance compared to locations such as Thailand, which offers much cheaper traveling costs and game fees.
Karakus, however, pointed out his country's nature, cuisine and rich cultural heritage can add convincing reasons to why Turkey should be the first choice.
"Turkey is the land that originated the five biggest empires in human history. Turkish cultural heritage is richer than that of Greece or Italy," Karakus said.
"Hospitality is another example of the heritage that Turks received from the empires. We are open to everybody, disregarding their race. It doesn't take a year, probably about six months, for a person to find himself perfectly settled down with locals and becoming a part of society," he added.
Ali Karakus is currently in charge of directing the Turkish cultural information counseling body in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
Traveling information to Turkey is accessible at the KOTFA at the COEX, Seoul until Sunday. Participants can experience traditional Turkish ice-cream "dondurma," and local delight "lokum."
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