ISTANBUL
YÖK head Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar andCulture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.
Türkiye has inked a deal to cultivate highly skilled professionals across all sectors of tourism, particularly in gastronomy, to meet the surging global demand.
“I believe we will soon become a nation renowned for exporting touristic general managers to the world. Through the protocol we are inaugurating today, we will have the opportunity to nurture the future architects of tourism, officials and visionaries alongside you,” Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said during the signing ceremony of a protocol with the Council of Higher Education (YÖK).
The newly ratified agreement aims to incentivize the establishment of more tourism and gastronomy departments at universities while introducing a multilingual education model.
Students pursuing tourism-related disciplines will receive education predominantly in English, while also being required to acquire proficiency in a second language, choosing among Russian, Chinese and Arabic.
Ersoy underscored the protocol’s significance, emphasizing that human capital is the most critical aspect of tourism and that the industry’s foremost need is a workforce of exceptional caliber.
From their freshman year, students will engage in internships at major tourism hubs.
Initially, the pilot program will be implemented in universities located in Türkiye’s premier tourist destinations, including İzmir, Antalya, Mardin and Muğla, before being extended nationwide.
Recent Turkish media reports have highlighted the burgeoning interest among students in gastronomy education, reflecting the sector’s increasing prominence.
Antalya welcomes visitors 7 times its population
Antalya and Istanbul continue to spearhead Türkiye’s thriving tourism sector, which hosts millions of visitors annually.
This year, Antalya shattered previous records in foreign visitor numbers, welcoming more than seven times its resident population. With a population of approximately 2.36 million, Antalya received 16.6 million international tourists in the first 11 months of the year, marking an 8 percent increase compared to the same period last year. By year’s end, the tourist count is projected to surpass 17 million.
In a recent report by the prestigious Conde Nast Traveller magazine, Türkiye emerged as the most-searched destination on Google for 2024. Having never previously appeared on this list, Türkiye’s top position was hailed as “a well-deserved rise to prominence for a nation truly worthy of global admiration.”
