'Year of Göbeklitepe' to further boost Turkish tourism
The world's oldest temple, considered the birthplace of early civilizations, Göbeklitepe will define the code of the Turkish tourism policy next year.
- Türkiye
- Anadolu Agency
- Published Date: 12:00 | 26 December 2018
- Modified Date: 03:24 | 26 December 2018
As Turkish president declared 2019 "the Year of Göbeklitepe" in honor of the 12,000-year-old temple in southeastern Turkey, tourism to the world's oldest archeological site is expected to boom.
Located in Turkey's southeastern Şanlıurfa province, Göbeklitepe was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in June 2018.
Aydın Aslan, provincial director of culture and tourism, told Anadolu Agency that Göbeklitepe became an attraction center after it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
"Göbeklitepe will be given a special attention in the expos that Turkey will attend. Informative tours for travel agencies in Turkey and abroad will be organized to introduce Göbeklitepe to larger number of people," Aslan said.
Scientific activities, symposiums and conferences would also be organized in Göbeklitepe, Aslan added.
5 million visitors in 2017
Aslan said Göbeklitepe would be introduced to its visitors in eight languages, including English, French and Chinese, and also a special program would be prepared next year for the travel agencies.
He noted that Göbeklitepe has been one of the places which attracted the most attention in Turkey in 2018.
"Our total number of visitors has nearly reached five million before the end of this year," he added.