Culture And Tourism

Hatay is a city of peace, brotherhood and tolerance, which has hosted many civilizations with its rich cultural heritage. Its location and geography, the fact that it is one of the first settlements in the world, its climate and rich tourism wealth supports its toutism potential.

The number of passengers entering through the border check-points of Hatay in 2012 was 575,070 people. A total of 245,000 people came to the facilities with operation licenses in 2012. 257 thousand people visited the museums and historical sites of Hatay in 2012.

There are 26 lodging facilities with tourism operation licenses and 22 with tourism investment licenses in the province. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2012 data). There are two 5-star hotel in Hatay, where construction of another two 5-star hotels.

Did You Know?

• The province, where three divine religions and different sects live together, has "the second largest mosaic museum in the world".
• The first church in the world (Church of St. Peter) and the first mosque of Anatolia (Habib-iNeccar Mosque) are located in Antakya, the center of the province.
• Hatay is the first settlement of Jews in Anatolia.
• The first street to be illuminated in history, "Kurtuluş Street", is located in Antakya.
• The only Armenian Village of Turkey, Vakıflı Village, is located in Samandağ county.
• It is among the 15 provinces under the Brand City Project of Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
• Hatay, where many civilizations lived and whose cuisine culture affected by this diversity, is one of the special gastronomy areas of Turkey. There are many unique elements of Hatay cuisine. This cuisine, having about 460 food varieties, has over 200 distinctive food varieties of its own.
• The fact that the people in Hatay can speak Arabic makes the province attractive for Middle Eastern tourists.
• Number of total beds of the facilities with tourism operation license is 3,869. With the completion of businesses whose investments are still in progress, the number of beds with tourism operation license will rise to 7,000.
• Such traditional handicrafts as sericulture and silk weaving, wickerwork, mosaic, reed production, sculpture, glasswork and numismatics are performed in Hatay.

With the project, prepared in 2011, targets of the sector have been set until 2023.

Tourism Goals of Hatay Tourism Strategy & Action Plan for 2023:

• Number of beds increasing 5 fold in the province by 2023,
• Total number of visitors reaching 1 million people and the number of foreign visitors 500 thousand people by 2023,
• Tourism revenues, which was 118 million $ in 2010, to reach 215 million in 2015 and 565 million dollars in 2023,
• Establishment of geriatric care centers is of great importance to achieve the objectives. Generating 25 million $ revenue in 2015 and 107 million in 2023 from the activities of geriatric care centers is being aimed
• Anticipated Developments in the Number of Tourists According to the Plan

Source: Hatay Tourism Strategy & Action Plan