Expo to boost Antalya's brand as sustainable project

Expo 2016 Antalya will continue to improve the Mediterranean city's brand after it closes, says Antalya Mayor Menderes Türel. 'We have made an investment for a sustainable project,' Türel says about Expo 2016 Antalya, which is now open to visitorsExpo 2016 Antalya, which opened its doors last weekend, will provide a big boost to tourism in the city amid a precipitous drop in the number of tourists coming to Turkey, according to Antalya Metropolitan Mayor Menderes Türel. 

As a sustainable project, Expo 2016 Antalya will continue to serve as a botanic park after it ends, thus boosting the city's brand, Türel told the Hürriyet Daily News.

What are your expectations from Expo 2016?

It is currently Turkey's biggest project. The total investment inside the expo area amounts to 1.8 million liras. Investments were also made on the expo area, such as the rail system, the rehabilitation of the Aksu River and the like. So the budget is nearly two or three times the budgets of the Mediterranean Games held in Mersin, the Erzurum Winter Universiade or the European Youth Olympic Festival in Trabzon. And by contrast, there, the events lasted for a week or 10 days and afterwards, we were mulling what to do with the facilities. Expo, on the other hand, is a sustainable project. It will last six months, but we intentionally did not opt for the big [world] expo since they are then dismantled after six months. Instead, we opted for the thematic expo, as they go on even when their official time is over. They continue forever as a very important center of attraction.

What do you think will differentiate Expo 2016 Antalya from the rest?

As far as the number of participating countries, it is the highest after Osaka in 1990. Such an...