Yusuf Hacısüleyman: Half of the accommodation tax should be left to the municipalities

Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Yusuf Hacısüleyman said that half of the accommodation tax should be left to local municipalities.

Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ATSO) President Yusuf Hacısüleyman made evaluations regarding the tourism sector.

According to the news of Yusuf Katrağ from Antalya Son Haber, Hacısüleyman pointed out that Antalya hosted nearly 17 million tourists who came directly by air in 2024 and said, “When we include connecting flights, we have a number of foreign visitors of around 17 and a half million. We see Antalya as the capital of tourism. We are also in fourth place in the world in terms of cities. We are the city that receives the most guests in fourth place.”

“45 percent of overnight stays are in Antalya”
Hacısüleyman, who pointed out that 45 percent of overnight stays in Turkey are in Antalya, spoke as follows:

“When we think about ‘What is Antalya’s contribution to tourism revenues?’, according to the statement of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and TÜİK data, we have an income of around 950 dollars per person. The total number of overnight stays in Turkey is 205 million per year. 93 million of these are in Antalya. In other words, 45 percent of the overnight stays in Turkey are in Antalya. This does not mean that we earn 45 percent of all revenues. Because, in some congress and fair cities, tourism revenues can be 2.5 times these figures mentioned. In other words, if we can make Antalya a much better fair and congress center, our revenues will increase by approximately 2.5 times. Our tourism is mostly resting and summer tourism. We are doing a type of tourism that depends on the climate,” he said.

“Half of the accommodation tax should be left to the municipalities”
Underlining that the biggest share of Antalya’s service exports is tourism, Hacısüleyman said, “Antalya generates 18 to 20 billion dollars of resources for Turkey’s current balance. We generate this all together. One of us welcomes, one of us hosts, one of us feeds, one of us provides, one of us carries, one of us sews the uniforms on the employees.”

Hacısüleyman pointed out that the municipalities do not benefit from the tourism movement in the city and said, “There is an Accommodation Tax. We generate an Accommodation Tax. 2 percent of the invoice amount from each accommodation goes to our central budget as Accommodation Tax. We have an additional population of approximately 3 million people in July and August. There is a burden brought by tourism here. 17 and a half million people who come to our city consume. They use water and energy, develop our trade, but our municipalities also need to do more work. They need to employ more personnel. They have to use more construction equipment. We want to be a clean city. They need more machines to sweep the roads, more garbage trucks. Therefore, 50 percent of the Accommodation Tax should be left to local governments. Because there is a burden brought by accommodation. I think we need to create the opportunity to meet that burden by transferring half of it to our municipalities,” he said.