Mahir Ünal

The package on cultural policies will be finally made public April 21 by Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu.
It was finalized after four months of intensive work. The number of meetings headed personally by Culture and Tourism Ministry Mahir Ünal has reached forty.

Turkish Tourism Minister Mahir Ünal and Labor and Social Security Minister Süleyman Soylu have revealed an employment support package to back the hard-hit tourism sector, according to Reuters. 

A $6,000 fuel subsidy for each airplane carrying tourists to certain airports in Turkey has been extended from June until September, Culture and Tourism Minister Mahir Ünal has said. 

An increase of over 10 percent is expected in the number of Ukrainian tourists visiting Turkey this year, according to a leading sector representative. 

The head of the Hoteliers Association of Turkey (TÜROB), Timur Bay?nd?r, said a double-digit increase will be seen in the number of Ukrainian tourists in 2016, adding that around 700,000 Ukrainians visited Turkey last year. 

Amid woes in Turkey's tourism sector this year, Tourism Minister Mahir Ünal has said the country wants to attract 1 million tourists from Black Sea neighbor Ukraine this year to compensate. 

German travelers' bookings for summer holidays in Turkey have started to recover and could bounce back from a hit they took after a suicide bombing in Istanbul earlier this year, Turkey's tourism minister has said.

Ankara and Athens are developing plans to create joint tour packages for distant destinations, such as China and India, Turkish Tourism Minister Mahir Ünal has said following meetings with his Greek counterpart, Elena Kontoura.

Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mahir Ünal said he does not see "severe trauma" in the sector, adding it will overcome the current "turbulence," in a televised interview on Feb. 27. 

"While the tourism sector will see turbulent days for a while, I believe we will overcome this turbulence. I do not see severe trauma [in the sector]," he said on Turkish news channel NTV. 

Tourism Minister Mahir Ünal has called on local and foreign industry representatives to "defend freedom of travel" against threats posed by terrorism, as the Turkish tourism industry continues to feel the chill of geopolitical uncertainty.

Turkey will offer jet fuel subsidies for flights to five of its tourist hot spots as part of its efforts to safeguard tourism revenue after a suicide bombing in Istanbul last week killed 10 German tourists.