Int’l departure fee should be increased sharply to boost local tourism, suggests Turkish bank head

Stressing the importance of the troubled tourism sector in Turkey’s economy, Ateş said it should be prioritized as it created more than $30 billion in foreign exchange-based revenue and jobs for 1.2 million. 

“Tourism investments are the assets of Turkey, not of private companies. In order to support the sector and to encourage Turks to take their vacations within Turkey as much as possible, international departure fees could be raised to $100, for example. The collected money could even be used to promote Turkey’s tourism,” he added. 

Ateş noted that the sector current lures around $80 billion in investments and the state should support the sector further to maintain and encourage these investments. 

“If a chicken dies, nobody has eggs. If the state wants eggs, it must enable the chicken to live,” Ateş said, referring to the tourism sector.