Turkey vaccinates tour operators: they are considered a priority category

Turkey has just launched an anti-Covid vaccination campaign for the country’s tourism workers.The campaign is coordinated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of Health and the Tourism Promotion and Development Agency of Turkey (TGA). It is part of the “Safe Tourism Certification Program,” which aims to welcome international travelers ahead of the upcoming tourist season and ensure the health and safety of tourism workers and locals by emphasizing that this is a top priority.

The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism has decided on priority vaccination for tourism workers so that tourism services can remain open year-round. To be vaccinated, in this case, will be employees of accommodation facilities, restaurant employees, tour guides, and travel agents who are already registered in the “Safe Tourism Certification Program.” In cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Health, a platform was recently launched where tourist facilities can register their employees for vaccination. The platform covers all major players in the inland tourism industry, including accommodation facilities.

Turkey expects a major recovery in tourism flows, and believes that the tourism sector, with its employees, has priority in vaccination. “As the country expects a major resumption of tourist flows,” says theCultural Office of the Embassy of Turkey in an official note, “the travel sector, with its employees, has priority in vaccination. Turkey is taking all actions to ensure it remains a safe and healthy tourist destination in 2021 and will be one of the best choices as a safe travel option for international travelers.”

As of March 14, Turkey has administered 10,992,095 doses of the vaccine (13.03 doses per 100 population), and 3,099,300 Turks appear to have been vaccinated (Italy, for comparison, has administered 6,769,792 doses, 11.11 doses per 100 population, with 2,027,463 Italians vaccinated). Italy does not currently consider tourism operators a priority category, despite the fact that it is a strategic sector for our country (tourism is worth 13 percent of GDP) and despite the fact that operators have long been requesting to be included among the priority categories because of the importance of tourism to the Italian economy.

Photo: panorama of Istanbul

Turkey vaccinates tour operators: they are considered a priority category

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