BY BESTENIGAR KARA
Austrian Trade Commissioner for Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Georgia Gerhard Lackner recommended that Turkey promote its winter tourism and ski resorts more abroad.
Turkey’s ski centers have proper technology and quality, according to Lackner. “Turkey is mainly known for its summer tourism worldwide. However, the ski resorts in the country are quite beautiful. Turkey should further promote these centers and winter tourism abroad and include them in its national branding campaigns,” Lackner told TR MONITOR on the sidelines of the 3rd Austrian Mountain Technology Summit.
The 3rd Austrian Mountain Technology Summit, hosted by Advantage Austria Istanbul, was held in the famed ski resort city of Erzurum on March 8. Infrastructure and technological developments for winter and mountain tourism were discussed at the event. At the summit, attended by 30 representatives from ski resorts in Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, 12 Austrian infrastructure and technology companies that operate in the winter and mountain tourism industry launched their products and services.
The bilateral trade between Turkey and Austria has nearly surged 7-fold over the past 25 years, according to Lackner. Moreover, the data for January-November 2023 showed that the bilateral trade volume had already caught the 2022 figures. “I estimate the bilateral trade volume to hit EUR 5bn in 2023,” Lackner noted. “The winter sports industry isn’t the largest area and doesn’t generate the hugest amount of exports or economic interchange. However, it’s a sector we see constantly evolving,” Lackner said. “The Turkish ski industry is investing, expanding, and modernizing. The business between Turkey and Austria will continue to grow in this sector.”
To him, the Turkish ski resorts, especially the larger ones, are investing in new capacities and bringing modern technology and digitization for access technologies, for example, to get into the ski lifts. “It will contribute to attracting more customers. Modern infrastructure attracts new customers. Austria can provide the technology, input, and master planning concepts needed by Turkey.”
As Lackner says, the decrease in snow caused by global warming and climate change is another challenge in the industry worldwide. That’s why ski resorts, including those in Turkey, invest in snow production technologies. “Investments are costly in this field. But they pay off as there is a need for snow stability to operate ski resorts,” Lackner noted.
“SKI RESORTS SHOULD BE INTEGRATED”
Lackner emphasized that there are integrated ski centers in Austria and other countries. “There is access with the same ticket to different ski areas, resorts, and locations. But the same system isn’t seen in Turkey that much. For instance, Turkey has different and professional operators being edged at 3,200 meters,” Lackner said. “I believe Turkey has a chance to improve and integrate its ski resorts. It can make it more attractive for the skiers marketing-wise,” he added.
Touching on the importance of promotion and national branding, Lackner recommended that Turkey include its ski resorts in its national branding. “Turkey has very nice ski areas. They should be made more known in other parts of the world. I see Turkey has a good basis with technology and quality and people who can afford skiing,” Lackner noted. “Turkey also has certain stability and snow safety. I understand Turkey hasn’t started a big marketing campaign worth hundreds of thousands of euros. Because if it doesn’t have snow, it cannot capitalize on it. But I believe this could be worth it with the big ski resorts investing in technology and snowmaking.”
The Austrian Ambassador to Ankara, Gabriele Juen; the Austrian Trade Commissioner for Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, Gerhard Lackner; the Vice President of the Erzurum Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Serhat Kilic; the Mayor of Erzurum, Mehmet Sekmen; the Secretary General of the Erzurum Metropolitan Municipality, Zafer Aynali; and Ejder 3200 CEO Selim Bagriyanik delivered speeches at the summit. The event ended with B2B meetings.
Turkey should consider the ‘all-year’ options: Envoy
According to Austrian Ambassador to Ankara Gabriele Juen, the year-round use of tourism infrastructure, not only in mountain regions but beyond, is becoming increasingly important. “The integration of sustainability technologies in winter sports facilities is also critical. Austrian excellence in this field extends to the planning, implementation, and also marketing of such year-round concepts for mountain tourism as well as to the development of technical equipment,” Juen said. She also recommended that Turkey consider all-year options in the mountain regions where possible. In line with the official numbers, Austria recorded 69 million overnight stays and 19 million arrivals during the 2023 winter season, generating a turnover of EUR 12.6bn and contributing to 6.2% of the country’s GDP. “Throughout the year and the first half of this tourism season in Austria, from November 23, 2023, to January 2024, we have seen 32 million overnight stays, which is 4.4% more than in the first half of the winter season of the previous year.”
