Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoğlu took part of information meeting of Türkiye Hoteliers Association which held in Address Istanbul Hotel.
"Local governments must be much more effective"
Addressing hoteliers Ekrem Imamoğlu stated that Istanbul and Türkiye doesn't get the share they deserve from tourism. “Of course, at this point, all stakeholders must cooperate at a high level. Local governments are actually not as involved in the process as expected. Municipalities are actually in an unauthorized position other than zoning or urban planning. At this point, we have calls and demands to take cooperation to the highest level. In order for tourism to reach the level it deserves, local governments must be much more effective. While the authority of municipalities in the countries that have reached the highest level in tourism in the world is 70-80 percent, in our country it is only 20-30 percent. These municipalities can make and implement many regulations through their own councils. The legislation in our country is not appropriate in this sense.” he said.
“Accommodation tax should be shared with local municipalities”
Stating that it is necessary to share the accommodation tax with local municipalities in order for municipalities to make stronger investments in the field of tourism, İmamoğlu said, “We are on the world's greatest treasure in terms of tourism. "Our main goal is to protect this value and ensure that Istanbul gets a larger share of tourism."
