Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Speaking at the iftar supper held by the Nevşehir Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University campus, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the shrinkage in tourism is temporary and that Cappadocia, as one of the most important tourism centers of Turkey, will reach an annual visitor count of 10 million in the next 10 years.

“When the late Turgut Özal, at a time when Turkey received 300,000 tourists annually, said that Turkey would receive 10 million tourists, nobody took him seriously but today, we host 40 million tourists annually,” said Hisarcıklıoğlu and stated that they can become one of the top 10 economies in the world by working in unity and solidarity.

Stating that Turkey’s resource potential is great, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that despite Turkey’s lack of petroleum and natural gas, her entrepreneurial spirit will enable her to be influential in the global economy in the next 10 years.

- “Employment has increased by 65% in Turkey in the last 10 years.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “While employment increased by 65% in Turkey in the last 10 years, it increased by 81% in Nevşehir. While the number of newly formed establishments increased by 50% nationally, Nevşehir saw an increase of 73%. This shows Nevşehir’s potential. There are only temporary setbacks to tourism.

I recently met with the Culture and Tourism Minister. I relayed to him the need for subsidies for Nevşehir and Kayseri in regards to air travel bringing in tourists.

A high velocity train line will be built as well as a highway in addition to the expansion of the airport. Nevşehir will host 10 million tourists annually in the next 10 years. If we preserve our unity and solidarity, Turkey will become one of the 10 largest economies in the world.”