Historical Development of Tourism in North Cyprus

Tourism which is the main revenue generator of North Cyprus has a great place in the country’s economy. The country's climate provides all-year holidays. The precipitation is concentrated in December and January and the average sea temperature is 20 ° C for more than six months. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is famous for its fragrance of orange, lemon and grapefruit flowers that fill the air with its wild flowers and spring.

The coast of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is a convenient and safe place for swimming in the Mediterranean. Most resort facilities have modern swimming pools, as well as beautiful beaches for the cool waters of the eastern Mediterranean.

In the inner part of the island, in the south of the Beşparmak Mountains, there is a wide Mesarya plain, Ercan Airport and the capital of the country Nicosia. The historic center of Nicosia is surrounded by a 5.5-km-long city wall, which is still intact. The entrance door was built by the Ottomans. Along the east coast is the ancient city of Famagusta and the ancient city of Salamis. The Karpaz peninsula, the largest peninsula of the island, is the spawning site of green turtles. There are special areas and entrance is forbidden.

Places to visit in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus include Nicosia, Venetian Column, Kyrenia Gate, Selimiye Mosque, Green Line, Kyrenia Old Port, Kyrenia Castle, Bellapais Monastery. Hilarion Castle, Famagusta and the historical port of Famagusta. Barnabas Monastery, Kertikli Bath, Namik Kemal Museum, Salamis Ruins, Othello Castle, Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque, Karpaz. Exotic Cypriot cuisine is a common synthesis of eastern and western culture, as well as its own historical and marine culture.

Minister of Tourism and Environment Fikri Ataoglu (28th november 2018) said in his speech at the Resort Tourism Congress that the current bed capacity in the country is 25 thousand, last year, 142 thousand tourists and 1 million 865 million dollars of tourism revenue was obtained last year.

Ataoglu: ‘North Cyprus; Price, quality and safety factors in the Mediterranean region is in a very convenient destination.’ Ataoglu stated that the North Cyprus is a country with a growing potential every year, and the average annual occupancy rate of 5-star hotels in the country is around 85 percent. Ataoglu, North Cyprus in terms of price, quality and security factors in the Mediterranean region also has a very suitable destination, mentioning, because of the embargo on the North Cyprus is not where it deserves.

Stating that the share of the Mediterranean region in world tourism has been increasing every year, Ataoglu stated that there are 1.5 billion people living in 4-5 hour flight distance to reach North Cyprus and the advantages of the North Cyprus in terms of geographic location are high. Within the framework of the Tourism Strategic Plan, Ataoglu said ‘that they are targeting 40 thousand beds, 2 million tourists and 2 billion dollars in the scope of the construction of ongoing investments in Bafra Region and Kyrenia Region in the first 3 years. At least, 3 million tourists and 3 billion dollars foresee an income.’

Ataoğlu said that it is easier to reach millions with the use of smart phones which are used by almost everyone in the developing and changing technology and thus digital media. Therefore, as a ministry, Ataoğlu said that the use of advertising and promotion activities in this field is more efficient and 70 percent of the promotion is digital. stressed that they started to do it with the help of the media.

Saying that the biggest advantage of digital media is to promote the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus without embargoes, Ataoğlu reiterated that they had to keep up with the developing technology. Bafra region is far from the city center because of the Bafra-Famagusta ferry services to start the process of launching, tourists are more touristy and easier to travel to the city center expressed the desire to possibility create.

In addition to the resort tourism, which addresses the mass tourism of our country, it also addresses the tourism of special interest; Ataoglu said that the country is rich in terms of alternative tourism models such as eco-agro tourism, underwater, hiking, health, gastronomy, culture, nature, sports and mountaineering. He said that if we consider that the tourists coming to the country averagly spend 800 dollars, with alternative tourism models this number can be increased.

In the first eleven months of 2017, the number of passengers arriving to our country by air and sea is 1,599,196 (excluding KKTC citizens).For the January-November period of 2018, this figure increased by 2.2% to 1,634,089. Turkish nationals A decrease of 3.8% and a decrease of 2.7% in other foreign nationals.