Cappadocia district attracts investors in tourism industry

Nevşehir's Uçhisar district is currently experiencing a tourism boom. The transformation of houses and mansions from the late Ottoman and Republican periods into boutique hotels, restaurants and other tourist facilities turn the district into a tourism magnet, says Mayor Mustafa Zühal

NEVŞEHİR - Doğan News Agency

Tourism investments made in a popular district of the central Anatolian city of Nevşehir over the last four years has created employment for more than 700 people.

Tourism has become a considerable source of economic strength for Uçhisar district, said Uçhisar Mayor Mustafa Zühal. �The number of people employed in boutique hotels currently under construction and in other tourism facilities will soon exceed 1,000,� he added.

Zühal said Uçhisar's Cappadocia region has succeeded in becoming a popular tourism spot due to its fairy chimneys, dovecotes and tranquil natural scenery. Noting that the transformation of houses and mansions from the late Ottoman and Republican periods into boutique hotels, restaurants and other tourist facilities has turned the district into a tourism magnet, Zühal said those facilities also attract investors in the tourism industry to the region.

Zühal said the concept of the �boutique hotel� was an important starting point for cultural tourism in 2004, adding, �At the same time, some 400 houses from the Ottoman and early Republican periods that were about to collapse but could not be restored due to financial problems and were taken under protection. They have also become a kind of smokeless industry in the region.�

Zühal said the municipality has made things easier for tourism investors like Mustafa Çankaya, who started running the Cappadocia and Cave Resort four years ago, along with other investments like the Kaya Hotel, the Yüksel Rug Company, the Cappadocia Handicrafts Center and the Rota Tourism Rug Company.

�Investors have found their employees through loudspeaker announcements. They employ many young people from Uçhisar. They still make announcements to find new employees. There is not a single unemployed young person in the district at the moment. We have lots of business opportunities for those who want to work.�

He said not only young people work in the industry, but local women can also work for tourism-related companies after sending their children to school. �People from the surrounding cities and villages, and even from Ankara, Istanbul, Adana, İzmir and Kayseri also contribute to the tourism movement in the region.�

Uçhisar's current official population is 3,422, but this number is likely to exceed 3,800 within a year, said Zühal. �We expect that the number of people employed will be more than 1,000 in the district with the opening of the Hilton Hotel and other boarding houses, restaurants and stores, which are still under construction,� he said.

Zühal noted that former Health Minister Bülent Akarcalı and former Labor Minister İmren Aykut, who came to the region to explore tourism developments, also bought houses and began restorating them. �Akarcalı's house will serve as boutique hotels as well. Some artists, businessmen and politicians are also planning to buy summer houses in the region,� he added.

Inform,02.06.08