There Must Be No Discrimination in Tourism: Social Security Premium Support Must Cover All Certified Facilities

As the Izmir Club of Skål International, which brings together tourism professionals worldwide under a single roof, we welcome the social security premium support introduced under Provisional Article 36 of Law No. 4447 to ease the employment burden on our tourism sector. This incentive, reaching up to 3,500.10 TL per employee per month, is a lifeline for our sector, which is struggling with high costs. However, under the current regulation, only private accommodation facilities holding a "Tourism Operation Certificate" from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism can benefit from this support, which leaves out a very important component of our sector. 13 THOUSAND SIMPLE ACCOMMODATION CERTIFIED FACILITIES CANNOT BE DEPRIVED OF SUPPORT Simple Accommodation Certified facilities, numbering 13,000 across our country, are the greatest carriers of local tourism, boutique hospitality, and cultural heritage. Just like the others, these facilities are subject to the supervision of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, fulfil their legal responsibilities in full, and provide employment worth millions of liras. Likewise, public guesthouses and other certified accommodation units are also inseparable parts of Turkish tourism. Tourism is a whole; discriminating between employers — and therefore between the workers who toil in these establishments — based on the type of operating certificate will lead to unfair competition within the sector. OUR CALL: 1) The scope must be broadened — The social security premium support must be immediately extended to cover the 13 thousand simple accommodation certified facilities, public guesthouses, and all facilities providing employment under the Ministry. 2) The principle of equality must be upheld — Businesses that host tourists of the same quality and create employment of the same quality must have equal incentive rights before the law. In order to protect the net foreign currency inflow and employment power that tourism provides to our national economy, we invite the authorities to address this shortcoming and to revise the regulation so that it embraces the entire sector. Respectfully announced to the public. Skål International Izmir Club