20.07.2020 Ankara
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) Travel Agencies and Guides Council held a meeting via videoconference with the participation of TOBB Board Member Davut Çetin under the chairmanship of Council President Firuz Bağıskaya.
Representatives of the sector who attended
the meeting wanted the short work allowance application to continue until the
end of the year, but expressed the need to provide a registry amnesty for
advance checks given to hotels due to tours and organizations. Members of the
Travel Agencies and Guides Council also demanded travel agencies law to be
referred to Parliament as soon as possible, the VAT rate on tourism
transportation be lowered to 1%, the sector be given a year of grace loans and
KGF guaranteed credit per business to be given at least 100,000 TRY of credit,
or mirror the application of credit for restaurants according to their turnovers.
- Sector representatives should be present in consumer delegations
The members who raised the government's
request for special incentives for MICE tourism and when the meeting ban would
be lifted, discussed many demands, from providing fuel support to tour
operators, bringing agencies the opportunity to work from home, delaying taxes,
insurance premiums and withholding payments for agencies, and taking sector
representatives in consumer arbitration committees.
The meeting emphasized the need for
promotional campaigns for domestic tourism, and the request for a postponement
in the repayments of loans issued by banks was also voiced. The meeting focused
on the need to sort the demands and initiate meetings to address these issues.