The lady of global tourism from Istanbul speaks out

Hulya Aslantas was the World President of SKAL International in 2008/2009 and traveled to more than 50 countries during her presidency to bring the world of tourism together.

She is currently the President of Universal Travel Services in Istanbul. Universal offers an extensive range of services which are essential for the creation of successful programs, like incentives, congresses or corporate meetings.

She told eTN:

“On January 12, 2016, Istanbul was chosen as the showplace of another terrorist attack!

“We all know that the ‘insane’ purpose of ‘international terrorism’ is to scare innocent people and to create anxiety and horror as was the case in many other similar attacks around the world’s important sites and metropoles. They usually hit touristic locations, for increased attention and aim to attack tourism.

“Tourism is the biggest enemy of terrorism, since only through travel which is one of the best means of bridging cultures, people of the world learn about each other’s customs and cultures, making them feel and understand that we are in fact members of a wonderful and colorful big global family.

“Unfortunately, terrorism is a universal threat that can hit anyone, anywhere! Probably we will never know, if it was a coincidence that the suicide blast hit a ‘German Group’ near the historical ‘German Fountain’ at Sultanahmet Square or was it intentional in any way?

“The world is going through a difficult social and political stage, but we can all win if we can stand decided and united to fight against this ‘evil’ who can never win.

“In spite of its unstable southeastern borders with Iraq and Syria, Turkey has succeeded in the past 10 years to increase 200 % its visitor numbers to 40 million annual foreign visitors, becoming a most popular tourist destination. Istanbul alone welcomed 12 million visitors in 2015.

“We want the world to know that all the leaders of Turkish tourism are here to continue welcoming our guests with enthusiasm to share our wonderful heritage.

“Turkey is as safe as any other tourist destination and even more so with increased security measures in place since many years.

“Our hearts and prayers are with those who lost their lives and their families.

“A gathering will be organized on January 14 morning at Sultanahmet Square to commemorate and protest loud against the attack.”