Turkey's coasts were the favourite of yacht tourism in the Mediterranean

Doğulu, in a statement to AA correspondent, said that this year, demand in the sector exceeded their expectations.

Stating that tourism revenues reached $ 42 billion in the 9-month period of this year, the share of marine tourism in these revenues was approximately 25 percent, Doğulu stated that marine tourism revenues increased by 30 percent compared to 2022, from $ 8.1 billion to $ 10.5 billion.

"In 2023, Turkey's coasts managed to become the most preferred destination of the Mediterranean basin," Doğulu said, adding that there are 60 marinas in the country, including 10 in Marmara, 40 in the Aegean and 10 in the Mediterranean Region. Stating that there are 6 marinas belonging to municipalities, Doğulu noted that the total boat mooring capacity is around 15,500 on average.

Doğulu stated that yacht tourism in Turkey has static and dynamic elements that will ensure that the country is at the highest level in this field and at world standards, and made the following assessment:

"As a static factor, there are 100 bays on the coasts from Çanakkale to Antalya, where 239 yachts can anchor, sheltered from storms and prevailing winds, which are unique natural wonders. In terms of dynamic factors, yachts, marinas, cruise ships, harbours, day tours, diving tourism, surfing, fishing, marine environmentalism and personnel training play an important role in Turkey's maritime tourism."

Underlining that the share taken from the Mediterranean basin will increase with the increase of facilities that can provide maintenance and repair services for yacht harbours and mega yachts, Doğulu pointed out that they have high expectations for the coming year with the state's importance and support for yacht tourism.

"A new era has begun in yachting with transparent practices"
Pointing out that regulations and laws at European standards have been put into practice, Doğulu said that most grey areas in the sector have been closed and that they have entered a new era in yachting with transparent practices.

"We aim to teach the sea and seamanship to young people in our eastern provinces"
Regarding the activities of the Yacht Tourism Association, Doğulu said:

"We believe that the biggest and most valuable project in maritime should be on education and we are working with our government in this direction. We aim to teach the sea and seafaring to young people by opening maritime vocational high schools in our eastern provinces. In higher education institutions providing maritime education, we plan to open departments and laboratories with simulation applications in order to train personnel to work in areas such as yacht management and maritime tourism. The courses opened by the private sector will be inspected by the Ministry of National Education and the reasonable fees to be paid by our citizens who want to participate will be supported with incentives."