"Our Goal is to Get More Share from the German Market"
The TRNC Ministry of Tourism participated in the ITB Fair with a delegation consisting of tourism professionals, sector representatives and ministry staff in order to attract more tourists from the German market, which is one of the most important markets for their country. The delegation promoted Northern Cyprus at the ITB Berlin Fair held between 7-9 March 2023 and continued the necessary promotion and marketing activities for a better year in 2023.
On the first day of the ITB Berlin Fair, President of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB) Firuz Bağlıkaya and the accompanying delegation visited the TRNC stand and held a meeting with TRNC Deputy Prime Minister Fikri Ataoğlu.
Ataoğlu emphasised that they market Northern Cyprus not only with its natural beauties but also with its cultural side and that this year they carried out a more active promotion campaign with the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Ataoğlu also stated that due to this promotion and marketing, the cities in the TRNC were clicked more on the Trivago website, which is the most used travel website by Germans, and that they were among the trend cities. Stating that they are working to bring tourists who are interested in special interest tourism to their country by highlighting the historical and cultural heritage, Ataoğlu stated that Germany, one of the two centres of the European travel market, has an important place in Northern Cyprus tourism.
Ataoğlu also stated that the German market, which has a very important place for Northern Cyprus in the number of tourists for many years, has ranked first in the tourist profile coming to the island after Turkey after effective promotion and marketing activities.
Ataoğlu stated that when looking at the tourist profile, especially in winter tourism, the vast majority of this market is made up of German tourists, while tourists arriving with charter flights under the name of winter tourism stay on the island for 15 days.
Ataoğlu continued his words as follows:
"As seen during the pandemic period, the Northern Cyprus Destination has come to the fore both in terms of health and security issues and has become a more preferred destination by Germans.
Germans love the weather and climate of Northern Cyprus. They especially prefer our hiking trails with mountain and sea views. As the Ministry, we are also working to increase alternative tourism types; because the tourism model preferred by the people of each country differs."
Stating that the interest of Germans in Northern Cyprus in the real estate sector is increasing day by day, Ataoğlu stated that the figures before the pandemic have increased 4-5 times more and that Germans are investing in their country.