People ski in Van province, Turkey on January 26, 2024. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A large number of tourists from Turkish provinces and abroad have visited the southeastern province of Van for skiing after a fresh snow fell. However, local officials say lack of basic services have prevented further progress in the sector.
A Rudaw team has visited Gevas (Westan) district of Van province to cover the flock of tourists from other parts of Turkey and neighboring countries to the touristic site for skiing.
In 2022, over 500,000 tourists visited the province and the number jumped to over 600,000 last year, according to official figures.
“We want to see more tourists coming here. The current number is not satisfactory. Around 60-70 percent of our hotels are currently full. We want to reach 100 percent,” Cevdet Ozgokce, the head of Turkey’s tourism companies association’s Van branch, told Rudaw’s Hevidar Zana.
“The city has not been promoted enough. Our officials have not cared much about this region. We serve our tourists very well and eye a higher number of tourists,” he added.
Lake Van is among one of the most attractive sites in summer.
Ozgokce said all hotels are fully booked in summer but this is not the case in winter.
Local authorities are planning to find an alternative to Westan because its snow melts down in about a month.
“We are working on this project. The current site was constructed wrongly. It is exposed to the sun from dawn to dusk. The other place is closer to downtown and more secure. Snow remains for a longer time there as well,” he noted.
He said although the province has an airport only few inbound flights are available.
Sadiq is a tourist. He told Rudaw that he did not receive training on how to ski. “We did not receive any training on skiing. We rely on what we learnt from our childhood.”
Semsettin Bozkurt is the head of Van’s businessmen association. “The infrastructure is very weak,” he said, adding that the authorities should promote the tourism sites.
“In terms of industry, tourism,agriculture and livestock, Van is a great centre but it is not well served,” he noted.
He also said that the authorities should find a spot where snow can remain for six months.
With a 1.5 million population, it is one of Turkey’s least-developed provinces. It is also ranked 72nd in the list of suitable cities for living. Seventy-four percent of the province’s income relies on agriculture. Industry and trade are other sources of income for its residents. In recent years, tourism has become another source of income.
Van is ranked 14th tourism province in Turkey. But it does not have the capacity to embrace a great number of tourists.
“Tourists come in abundance from Newroz [March] to December. It reaches a point where all hotels become full. In summer, rooms should be booked two months in advance due to high demand," Yunus Yuksel, head of hotels association, said.
"Many people come from Kurdistan [Region] as well. Van’s hotels and food are cheap. Van Late is spectacular. They [government] should prepare the lake for people to visit. For example, it should be made attractive during winter so that tourists do not visit it only in summer,” he added.
Unemployment in Van is 19.2 percent, according to the country’s statistics agency. Last year, around 50,000 people moved out of the province.
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