The new address of tourism:
BAFRA

When Bafra, located on the eastern costs of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,
was determined as a “tourism development area”, many people were unaware of the developments that would take place. However, it is now seen that, the 5 star facilities rising
in the region, which remained silent for centuries shall determine the new address of
tourism in the following decades.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is undergoing many so changes that it has never experienced before. It is observed that constructions are rising on all parts of the country and these constructions are bringing liveliness to the economy as never before. New roads are constructed, old roads are extended and repaired, the energy infrastructure is being renovated and capacities are increased; in short, it is observed that there is a lot of liveliness in the economy of the country, which had remained idle for many years. 
However, this economic development that is lived is shaped with focus on Kyrenia and Nicosia. The eastern part of the island on the other hand continues to remain “idle” as it has been for many centuries. However, this idleness shall be replaced with “movement” in September. This is due to the fact that the first hotel in “Bafra Tourism Investment Area”, which is one of the projects that has been established with the purpose of enlivening the regions that lagged behind, shall become operational in September 2006.

The name of Bafra shall become a brand
Bafra Tourism Investment Region is located in the east of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, on a coastal bank of 9 km and behind it, which covers a total area of 106 thousand hectares also including the Bafra Holiday Village that is left as semi-finished since year 1988.
The project initiated by the Ministry of Tourism with the purpose of livening up the economy of Northern Cyprus and spread development to the whole country in general, shall include 1 tourism investment areas prepared by Urban Planning Department and Tourism Planning Department and the Bafra Tourism Investment Region shall include administrative centers, sport areas, camp areas, green areas and new roads.
The investment region on the Karpaz Peninsula gained acceleration with the incentives provided for tourism investments following the protocol signed between the Turkish government and the government of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. As per this protocol, incentives were given to the tourism investors from Turkey in regions where the infrastructure investments were undertaken by Turkey.  
Also the investment incentives given with annual interest rate of 10 percent, with no payment for the first two years and payable within 7 years with 40 percent equity and 60 percent credit system by giving guarantee and mortgage, sufficed to attract tourism investors to the region.
The companies from Turkey, that intend to make investments in this area in the coast of Bafra joined under the structure of “Bafra Tourism Area Reconstruction and Development Center” and constituted their own projects. Gürel İnan, tourism investment expert, the chairman of the center believes that Bafra has been chosen for the project as “the region of Kyrenia became too intensive in terms of tourism”.
Inan emphasized that Kyrenia had become a center of attraction with its casinos and night clubs but the main factors necessary for tourism had been “nature, culture and history” and he said that Kyrenia had been transformed into a place where it had been impossible to show the features of Cyprus and its lifestyle. Hence, Kyrenia started to lose its attraction for us. New destinations were needed in order for tourism to break through in Northern Cyprus. Since the region of Bafra reached our day by preserving its natural beauty, we though that we could open up Bafra for tourism following the infrastructure investments to be made in this region and re-planning Bafra based on our previous experiences.
Inan said that they found everything in Bafra necessary for tourism and believes that the region can be transformed into a brand in a few years: “In my opinion Bafra will become a brand as the number one holiday destination not only in Cyprus but in all Mediterranean.”

Congress and sports tourism
It is said that Bafra, as an alternative for sun tourism in the summer and sports and congress tourism during winter can also be an alternative to the Mediterranean coasts of Turkey, which reached a certain level of saturation. Inan said that tour operators sought new centers for marketing purposes and reminded that the climate of Cyprus had been available to conduct tourism operations for 12 months. “He said that all hotels and the Mediterranean coasts of Turkey had been used at least 2-3 times by congress organizers during the last 15 years. Hence, it is necessary to establish new congress centers for the operators. Cyprus, with its climate that could be used comfortably for 12 months gains importance in this respect.”
There are 11 5 star tourism facilities in the Bafra tourism center. These facilities have not only been planned for marketing sea and sun in Bafra. The large congress centers in the hotels have been considered to meet this need of tour operators.
Bafra, presents opportunities for sports and especially for football sports besides congress tourism. The development of Antalya in this area also emphasizes the importance of football tourism. Antalya used y football teams to make preparations during summer, prior to the season and to camp during the season break in winter hosts hundreds of football teams of various sizes.
Antalya, which has also been chosen as many leading football clubs in the world for preparation camps, brings a lot of liveliness to the economy of the country and makes significant contributions to the promotion of the country, which is value that cannot be measured with money. This is due to the fact although the convoy of a football team generally consists of 30-35 persons; this number reaches 1500-2000 with reporters and fans. Of course these figures vary according to the level these teams are known in the international arena.
This value created for Turkey by Antalya can be created for Cyprus by Bafra. It is known that tourism facilities assume all expenses of football teams and even make payments in order to be able to create this potential. Gürel İnan,  noted that the owners of facilities in Bafra would adopt a similar approach and said, “Imagine that we brought Milan, Manchester United or Bayern Munich to Bafra. Small teams having heard their names will also come to the region in order to play a match with them. Of course on should also take into consideration the members of media and the fans of these teams. This is due to the fact that fans usually prefer the hotels that their teams camp in order to be able to follow the camp period of their team, watch the preparation matches and have a nice holiday.
On the other hand, members of press that will come from different parts of the world will mention the name of Bafra and Cyprus in their news reports. This means a promotion campaign both for the country and the region which cannot be measured with money. Furthermore, it is also possible to attract the tourists that once come to the island with their team in the future as well.

In “Noah’s Ark”, “The Vineyards of Babylon”
One other important feature of the hotels in Bafra, the first one of which shall be opened this summer is that all these hotels will have a concept. Kaya Artemis Resort Hotel, which is the first one of these and expected to start operation in September 2006 has been designed as a copy of the Artemis Temple.
The original of the Artemis temple, which is the largest temple of its era, is located in the Ephesus Antique City in the district of Selçuk in Izmir. The temple, which is among the Seven Wonders of the World, was made by Kroisos, the King of Lydia between B.C. 560-550. Since the ground of the temple, having been constructed of marble only has been placed on a base 3 meters high and of 13 steps since the base of the temple had been a swampy area. Today, nothing is left from this temple except for a few pillars, which had been knocked down by invaders in B.C. 262.
On the other hand, the apart rooms in Kaya Artemis Resort Hotel with a capacity of 1500 beds were constructed by inspiration from the Efes Villas and a copy of the antique library in Efes was constructed as well.
Another “wonder of the world” in the region is the Limak Babylon Resort constructed by inspiration from the “Vineyards of Babylon” The hotel with a capacity of 1300 beds was inspired from the gardens of the royal palace of Babylon, which is located in the south of Iraq today. This hotel is expected to start operation in 2008. The Vineyards of Babylon, kept garden by pumping water from the Euphrates River with a special system established had only been present in books until date. Hence, it is expected that this hotel to be constructed in Bafra shall catch the interest of tourists.
Another facility in the Bafra tourism investment region with a concept is inspired from the mythology of Noah’s Ark. Noah’s Ark Resort with a capacity of 1250 beds is expected to start operation in 2008 and it will be constructed in the form of an ark. Another tourism facility, the project of which had been completed is Hotel Coliseum with a capacity of 1500 beds. As one can understand from the name, the resort shall be constructed in the form of a Coliseum. It is expected that this facility, having been designed in the form of  Coliseum, which became the symbol of Rome, the capital of Italy, will catch the interest of tourists as well.

It will exert pressure on direct flights
The total capacity of beds for the 5 star tourism facilities to be constructed in the Bafra region shall be around 12 thousand. This figure may increase up to 15 thousand with some additions. It is expected that the region reach a bed capacity of 9 thousand beds during the summer of 2008. When it is taken into consideration that the number of beds in the Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus in 5 star hotels conforming to EU standards is 2 thousand, it is understood that this figure will increase at least by 4 times.
The authorities agree that this figure would suffice for “mass tourism”. Hence, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which was not taken into consideration by tour operators so much as it lacked large capacities will become a significant point of destination for world tourism. This will make Northern Cyprus a country that markets itself.
Gürel İnan, noted that the arrival of 14 thousand qualified tourists in the region would have another significant meaning as well. “14 thousand is a significant figure for mass tourism. This figure will make tour operators exert pressure on direct flights to Northern Cyprus. We as investors also believe that the problem of direct transportation would also be solved. The economy will solve the problem transportation within itself.”

It will create employment opportunities for 6000 persons
These facilities to be constructed in the Bafra region will bring liveliness to the eastern part of the island, which seemed to have been abandoned until date. This is due to the fact that the tourists that will come to Bafra will not stay there only. The Karpaz Peninsula will be utilized for “religious tourism”. The peninsula incorporates in itself the Saint Andreas Monastery and many small and large churches, and there are also antique structures that will serve cultural tourism.
Another advantage that the Bafra Tourism Development Plan shall provide to the island is the employment opportunities that it will create. There will be a need for 7200 personnel in the region in three years from now. At least 6 thousand of this number should be provided from the region because it is not possible for these facilities to accommodate 6 thousand personnel. Gürel İnan, approaches the matter from a different perspective by saying “The performance of personnel coming from home and coming from a dormitory in the place of work would be different”.
Also, some projects were started in cooperation with the Ministry of Education to meet the need of labor force that shall soon arise. Programs similar to the ones implemented previously in the East Mediterranean University are also being implemented in vocational high schools. Gürel İnan, said that the persons that would participate in these programs would spend their internship in the tourism facilities in Northern Cyprus and in Belek and would be prepared to serve the tourism industry.
Gürel Inan noted that the Kaya Artemis Hotel that would be opened this year would take 500 personnel and thinks that the Turks in Cyprus need to be motivated to work in the tourism industry. This is due to the fact that not even one application has been received for this need of 500 personnel. Inan said “In Cyprus, people feel distant to the service sector.” And he believes that working in the service sector is not something bad and that it had had been profitable.

Marketing Efforts Started
The only thing that is missing in the Bafra Tourism Region is infrastructure. The infrastructure works of the region has not yet been completed although superstructures are ahead. However, it is noted that this problem would be solved as soon as possible.
Along with Kaya Artemis that shall start operations in the summer of 2006, the region that shall operate active in the tourism sector aims getting shares from Germany and Russia and Gurel Inan said that they participated the exhibitions in these countries as “Bafra Tourism Area Reconstruction and Development Area” and that they had gained their first experience in marketing and said, “We presented the form the Bafra would look like in 2008 with the posters that we prepared in cooperation with the ministry of Economy and Tourism of the Turkish republic of Northern  Cyprus. We got positive reactions. The only question that we received was as “When will we be able to go there” Especially tour German and Scandinavian tour operators reviewed Bafra with a lot of interest. This shows that the facilities with concepts and themes in Bafra will catch a lot of interest.”
Gürel İnan, also emphasized that the existing communication and transportation means made the world smaller and now everyone knew everywhere and added: “However, this is a region that had not been known or seen before. Furthermore, different concepts and themes are applied in the facilities. This leads to a lot of interest as well. The tour operators in the exhibition in Moscow also seized the posters that we had prepared. There is a high demand. What shall become is obvious.”
The fact that Cyprus has a common history with many European countries will also provide ease for marketing. It is known that Beside the British, also the Spanish and Italian have historical ties with the island. These countries also create a large market for tourism investors.
All these positive developments show that Bafra will undergo significant changes in a few years. The importance of Northern Cyprus will increase in the world in terms of tourism; hence more tourists will come to the country. More tourists will attract more tourism investors. As more investors come, the political and economic pressured on the country shall decrease. Once this snowball starts rolling, the unlucky fate of Cyprus Turks will change.

(Consturction 2006 / April)

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