Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Minister of Environment and Tourism B.Bat-Erdene is holding series of meetings with representatives of foreign companies. On February 7, the Minister together with Deputy Environment Minister G.Tuvdendorj, Acting Director of the environment ministry’s Tourism Policy Coordination Department A.Enkhbat, Director of Tourism Development Center S.Bat-Erdene met with Turkish Airlines Ulaanbaatar Director Ali Özdemir.

At the meeting, the Turkish Airlines representative said it is possible to add Ulaanbaatar to multi-city package tours from China, Japan, and South Korea to Europe and from Europe to Southeast Asia, which would enable the traveler to tour Ulaanbaatar without much additional cost.

In particular, the airline’s flights which cost USD 992 on the route Europe-Tokyo-Europe could cost additional USD 170 on Tokyo-Europe-Ulaanbaatar-Tokyo route and the cost for flights on Seoul-Europe-Seoul route is estimated to increase by USD 70 if the route is changed to Seoul-Europe-Ulaanbaatar-Seoul.

A 2019 study shows around 6 million tourists from Japan, 8 million tourists from China and 9 million tourists from South Korea traveled to Europe on Turkish Airlines flights. In the same year, the three countries received about 11 million tourists from Europe.

Mr. Ali Özdemir said Ulaanbaatar could be added to the multi-city package tours without any increase in flight cost as well and that he is confident that the tourists would be glad to visit Ulaanbaatar without paying more. “They will be able to see the Central Museum of Mongolian Dinosaurs and Tumen Ekh Ensemble in Ulaanbaatar, and shamanic rituals and buy cashmere products at relatively less prices than in Europe, which will bring economic benefits to not only tourism, but other industries. Most importantly, Ulaanbaatar will have tourists in winter and spring,”

“For example, a tourist going from Europe to South Korea for a 15-day travel could spend three days in Ulaanbaatar on their way,” he added, presenting estimates made in this regard. During the meeting the Turkish Airlines also put forth a request to increase the number of its flights, saying the current regulation limiting seating capacity to 800 seats for three flights per week is affecting tourists. “Turkish Airlines has the capacity to offer flights every day through the year, especially three to four flights a day in summer,”

The airline representative also emphasized the need to liberalize the airline industry in Mongolia, saying that ticket prices became cheaper and Turkey started receiving 60 million tourists after the privatization of Turkish Airlines and that the country’s airline industry expanded thanks to the privatization. “As someone who works in the industry, I would say people now want to see the nomadic culture, not the sea. I am confident that Mongolia will receive a great number of tourist if the industry is liberalized”

Environment Minister B.Bat-Erdene concurred with the airline representative that the liberalization of the industry will pave the way for the arrival of more tourists, saying the economy would expand with more tourist arrivals.