As you know, the coronavirus has been in our lives for about
a year. Last year, I made comments in many articles about the effects of the
epidemic on tourism and even presented projects. Everyone involved in the
tourism industry made similar efforts. One of the projects I mentioned was
about the "Safe Tourism Corridors" (Pier to Pier Project for Safe
Tourism) that I thought about last April and wrote on this platform in August.
At that time, many countries developed and implemented similar projects. Some
were relatively successful, some ended before it started. However, when
developing such projects, it is absolutely necessary to take into account the
unique conditions of the countries. We also have a tourism industry that
operates according to its own rules. We have a sectoral structure based on high
tourist figures in a narrow area focused on a few destinations. While
continuing tourism activities under epidemic conditions, we also experienced
some of the advantages of this structure. For example, the fact that our 4
destinations could be opened to tourist traffic last summer was the result of
this structure that our hotels implemented good hygiene rules with the concept
of “Safe Tourism”. Thus, it was possible to manage "Safe Tourism"
applications through our resort hotels and to host tourists in the epidemic.
The current course of the epidemic shows that last year's
strategies should be developed. Finding the vaccine has been an important
glimmer of hope, but be cautiously optimistic! At least for the tourism sector…
It is essential to follow the process in order to manage this new situation. It
is expected that the vaccination calendars of rich countries, especially
America and Europe, will continue until autumn with an optimistic view. It is a
fact that vaccinated people will not be able to abandon security measures
immediately.
First yourself, your family, the city you live in, your
country and finally the country you will travel to, the immunization rate and
community immunity are very important. So it is not possible to manage the
process alone. Issues such as immunity passport, quarantine requirements,
travel applications, and efficiency differences of vaccines are also discussed
on the agenda. Because of these facts, all international organizations state
that 2021 will not witness a sharp turn in terms of tourism and travel.
Considering this situation, if we make our own strategy
clear, first of all, we will be arming our first weapon against the uncertainty
ahead. In Turkey, the vaccination schedule starts on January 14, and it is very
important for us to manage the process to get our citizens vaccinated as soon
as possible. The high operational capability of our healthcare system will not
negate the optimism that we can make progress in this matter in a short time.
However, it is useful to consider negative scenarios as well. At this point the
project can be adapted to the conditions of this year. The “Pier to Pier”
project also carries a tourism communication mission. Considering that similar
projects are developed by predominantly tourist sending countries, this project
also represents an initiative developed by a tourist destination. It is useful
to be active, not passive. Of course what is desired; our society will gain
virus immunity as soon as possible.
In the conditions of this year, evaluations will come to the
fore with regard to international travel, together with the effects of the
vaccine. At this point, the idea of creating a safe tourism corridor between
destinations by evaluating the tourism and travel sector on the basis of
destination will be strengthened, instead of making a wholesale assessment on
the basis of a country with a holistic approach while allowing the countries
and especially the European Union to travel internationally. Thus, it will be
easier for our destinations to accept tourists. To achieve this, the immunity
of the tourism service chain is important.
For this reason, the safe tourism corridors, which we saw
last year with the epidemic, will be more likely to come to the fore with
vaccination practices this year.
İrfan ÖNAL
13 January 2021
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