Recently, my work has given me the opportunity to become closely involved with businesses operating in the tourism sector… Every restaurant I went into, every tourism-oriented business, was empty during what is known as the “tourist season” or “high season”… There could be three reasons for this; 1) I went to places that were empty, 2) There are no tourists in the country, 3) The tourists who arrive don’t leave their hotels, or aren’t allowed to…
According to the Ministry’s website, the number of tourists entering the country between January and July 2012 was up 14% compared with the previous year… So, based on my observations, the second option is impossible! That leaves us with 1 and 3…
The conversations I’ve had with business owners, featuring comments such as “tourism is being poorly managed,” “what tourism is there in this country?” and “tourists don’t leave their hotels; they come here to gamble,” probably explain my observations… You be the judge.
Aside from all this, I should say that I’m glad (!) tourists aren’t going out. After all, it was impossible not to see that environmental pollution had reached incredible levels, particularly in “the capital of tourism!” Girne…
The sad part was that this was happening even as the words “we have no cultural policy”—a view shared by those active in the cultural sphere—kept ringing in my ears…
But what is truly strange and contradictory is that, under these circumstances, the country has a Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture…
Normally, after making these observations, people are expected to comment along the lines of “well, our people should pay attention to keeping the environment clean,” “can cultural activities really be organized by the state?” and “we shouldn’t expect everything from the state.”
But I didn’t take that approach. Instead, I went to the ministry’s official website to find out what it was doing. When I visited the ministry’s official website, http://www.tckb.gov.ct.tr, I could see the ministry’s activities. For those who can’t access it, here’s a summary; The announcements page on the website has published nine news items from April 5 to today. During what we call the “season”—that is, over a period of five months—the ministry has issued just nine announcements. Two of them are about Defne magazine, one (published yesterday) is about 2011 air pollution, one is about occupancy rates, three concern a photography exhibition, a concert and a theater performance, one is about signing a protocol, and the last is about a campaign… So I suppose the ministry has tried to put together a “flower arrangement” by adding one of each kind… The bouquet is colorful, but rather sparse…