The IV. International Tourism Gastronomy Investments and Hospitality Summit FSUMMIT 2024, themed "Profit Chain," opened its doors on March 8-9 at the NEST Congress & Exhibition Center.

During the panel titled "Sustainable Quality Practices in Antalya Hospitality," moderated by Haluk Özsevim, President of the Association of Tourism Writers and Journalists (TUYED) and Editor-in-Chief of Tourism Today, Zafer Alkaya, General Manager of Cornelia Diamond Golf & Resort Spa, Korhan Alşan, Tourism Coordinator of Ela Excellence Resort Belek, and Ali Kızıldağ, General Manager of Calista Luxury Resort, took the floor.

Zafer Alkaya: Quality tourism is the future of Antalya's tourism

Emphasizing that quality is one of the most important issues for both Turkish tourism and Antalya's tourism, Zafer Alkaya, General Manager of Cornelia Diamond Golf & Resort Spa, said, "Quality is a must for us. I believe quality tourism is the future of Antalya's tourism. We need to increase quality in every sense. As this increases, our expectation for quality tourists also rises. If these two expectations align, we will have a much better future in tourism. Innovations, strengthening concepts, and offering products that provide more service and access to guests are crucial. High-end hotels are doing this very well. The position of high-end hotels in Belek on a global scale is proof of this success."

"Staff must be Guest-focused"

Highlighting the importance of the staff in the understanding of service and quality, Alkaya stated, "The key to guest feedback is the staff. We have many tourists who choose the same facility because of our staff. We need to equip our personnel well in terms of service quality. The staff must be guest-focused and approach issues from the guest's perspective. Unfortunately, we struggle to find staff, adapt our own people more to the sector, and attract them. Therefore, we must supplement our workforce. We have no other choice. We need this to maintain quality sustainably."

"We shower our sector with products and services"

Alkaya mentioned that Türkiy surpasses its international competitors in terms of service quality, saying, "We are a sector that showers with products and services. We have reached an important point in service quality. We are one of the countries that do this job most correctly. We can say that competitor countries are ahead in terms of branding and branding, but we are far ahead of the competitors in terms of service quality. We have reached a profile of constant guests by 40%. Because tourists prefer facilities and regions where they receive good service. This is our biggest advantage, and we need to use this advantage to reach higher levels and become permanent."

Korhan Alşan: Quality is not Momentary but must Be continuously maintained

Korhan Alşan, Tourism Coordinator of Ela Excellence Resort Belek, noting that Türkiye made a significant tourism breakthrough in the 2000s and achieved substantial success with rapid growth, said, "Rapid growth brings some problems with it. Human resources, quality tourists are among them. To achieve success in these areas, analyses must be conducted to identify our current position and work on strategies. Quality is something you must maintain and sustain continuously, not momentarily. Hotels have improved themselves a lot in this regard. Both in terms of personnel and senior management. Now, almost every hotel has quality departments, and they are doing a good job."

"Sustainability triggers purchases and reduces costs"

Alşan highlighted that facilities utilizing sustainability best will stand out, "Sustainability entered our lives clearly five years ago and became more dominant in hospitality. We know it has now reached consumers. Their sensitivities are increasing. These sensitivities are also reflected in surveys. Additionally, both during purchasing and on holiday, they inquire about their hotel's and tour operator's sustainability practices. Sustainability enhances operational quality, triggers purchases, and reduces costs. We, as hoteliers, need to benefit from these advantages, both financially, morally, and commercially."

Ali Kızıldağ: We implement practices not found in many countries

Ali Kızıldağ, General Manager of Calista Luxury Resort, emphasized that sustainability is now a well-known concept integrated into everyone's life, stating, "It's very valuable to be discussing an important issue of the world here. Facilities and destinations applying sustainable policies best will come to the forefront. Because humanity has realized that it consumes everything and will leave nothing for future generations. Sensitivities have increased. Therefore, they have thoroughly embraced sustainability, integrating it into their daily lives. For example, the Dutch do not prefer distant destinations because they do not want to use planes due to carbon emissions. We try our best to implement this in our hotels. We really apply practices that are not found in many countries around the world in our hotels. Let's not underestimate ourselves. We are doing successful work."