Turkey offers tourists certificates from COVID-19

Turkey hopes to restart the tourism season and welcome more international travelers in upcoming weeks as more than 2,000 hotels finalize measures to receive the tourism ministry's "safe to visit" certificate after halting business for months due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy made his remarks on Saturday at an event in Antalya's southern resort city, where ambassadors of more than 50 countries and tourism sector representatives gathered for the launch of the ministry's new campaign "ReTurkey" promoting the new "healthy tourism certificate" program.

The minister said 400 hotels have implemented the entire 132 criteria and received the certificate so far, adding that the ministry's actual goal is to restart the whole industry and open half of the tourism facilities in line with the new program.

The "healthy tourism certificate" program was launched jointly by several ministries, including the Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Health Ministry. It aims to convince travelers that despite the pandemic, Turkey's beaches and historical treasures will be safe to visit this year, with rigorous checks on airlines, local transport, and hotels receiving the utmost safety guidelines.

Foreign tourists from certain countries began to arrive in Turkey last week gradually. Still, numbers will increase in the upcoming weeks as more countries lift restrictions on international travel, Ersoy said.

The minister earlier said nearly all the tourism facilities in the country are expected to have their doors open in July. Turkey recently resumed limited international flights and only allowed foreign tourists from certain countries to enter. Air traffic is expected to increase in July.