‘Alanya Tourism is Bleeding’: Frightening Statement from TÜRSAB

Kerim Yılmaz, Vice President of TÜRSAB Alanya, drew attention to the critical shortage of qualified tourist guides, which has become a bleeding wound for the region’s tourism, and made an urgent call to the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) and universities. Highlighting the difficulty travel agencies in Alanya and the surrounding Mediterranean basin face in finding guides, Yılmaz stated that this situation deals a heavy blow to the tourism sector, which is the lifeblood of the national economy.

Visiting the Head of the Tourism Department at Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University (ALKÜ), Yılmaz once again raised the issue of the longstanding shortage of trained personnel that the sector has struggled to resolve. He said, "Due to the guide shortages experienced by agencies in our region, I emphasized at the external stakeholder meeting held at the university that YÖK must start admitting students to guide programs at universities."

‘THE SECTOR’S CRIES ARE NOT HEARD BY YÖK’

Kerim Yılmaz stated that the demand for trained expert guides in the tourism sector, the most significant source of income for the national economy, is increasing daily, and criticized YÖK for remaining silent despite all the sector’s calls. His most striking observation concerned the current situation at ALKÜ: "There are instructors in the Guiding Department at ALKÜ, but no students. This causes the existing academic staff to be idle and the urgent needs of the sector to go unmet."

Yılmaz stressed the urgent need to start student admissions to the guiding departments, which have become the biggest problem for travel agencies, saying, "The need for licensed Tourist Guides in the Alanya and Antalya regions is rapidly increasing every day. Our regional universities’ ‘Tourism Guiding’ departments must be activated quickly and begin accepting students to meet this demand." Yılmaz’s strong stance holds great significance for the future of Alanya tourism. (Sudi ÇANDIR)