ATF26 Opens a Separate Stage for City Tourism in Turkey: Tourism Cities Summit to be Held in Antalya

The competition for destinations in Turkish tourism has long been discussed through strong centers like Antalya, Istanbul, Muğla, or Cappadocia. The Tourism Cities Summit added to ATF26 Turkey's program this year aims to elevate the discussion to the city scale.

The eighth edition of the International Antalya Tourism Fair will take place from October 26–28, 2026, at ANFAŞ Antalya International Fair and Congress Center. The organization brings together hotels, travel agencies, tour operators, destination representatives, investors, and tourism technology companies in a B2B format.

The focus of the new Tourism Cities Summit is on how cities develop their own tourism products.

According to Hotel Restaurant's announcement dated August 17, the summit will address city branding, year-round tourism, sustainable destination management, gastronomy and culture routes, investment areas, and changing tourist profiles.

Discrepancies in the Number of Cities

The most significant editorial note regarding the event is the number of cities in the program.

Hotel Restaurant announces 17 cities at the first Tourism Cities meeting: Antalya, Muğla, Nevşehir, Trabzon, Adana, Ankara, Gaziantep, Konya, Manisa, Balıkesir, Erzurum, Rize, Samsun, Tokat, Sivas, Amasya, and Mersin. The news states that the mayors or local government representatives of these cities have been invited.

In contrast, ATF Turkey's official homepage, accessible as of August 20, 2026, shows information on 15 cities, three panels, and 15 invited mayors. The presence of the phrase "14 cities" in the navigation of the same site indicates that the program page may be in the process of being updated.

Therefore, it is not accurate to present the program today as "confirmed participation of 17 cities."

A safer expression is: The organizers and sectoral announcements indicate that a wide group of cities from different regions of Turkey is planned to be represented at the summit; the final list of cities and speakers may be updated as the event approaches.

The Real Issue in City Tourism is Not More Visitors

An important aspect of the Tourism Cities Summit is that it opens the discussion on destination management rather than merely representing cities with promotional stands.

When a city wants to grow in tourism, the first reflex is often to attract more visitors.

However, the more valuable questions from a business perspective are different:

How many nights does the visitor stay?

How much do they spend in the city?

How much revenue do they leave for gastronomy businesses?

How is demand spread over the months of the year?

Does the tourist only see the main attraction, or do they also distribute to nearby neighborhoods and businesses?

If a destination raises only the number of visitors without answering these questions, the tourism economy may not produce the expected local value.

Gastronomy as a Strong Tool for City Branding

Gastronomy particularly stands out in the program topics announced by Hotel Restaurant.

This is not a coincidence.

Cities like Gaziantep, Adana, Hatay, or Afyonkarahisar have demonstrated the power of creating a destination identity through gastronomy in Turkey. However, reducing gastronomy tourism to the promotion of a few famous dishes is also not sufficient.

For a true destination product, elements such as the quality of restaurants, hygiene, service, reservation infrastructure, local product supply, working hours, foreign language capacity, and transportation must work together.

If a tourist comes to the city for a specific dish but cannot access restaurant information, make a reservation, or plan a route within the city, the gastronomic brand value cannot be fully converted into economic return.

For this reason, cities' gastronomy strategies must be not only about communication but also about a HORECA infrastructure strategy.

“Year-Round Tourism” Also Concerns Hotel Employees

Another topic on the summit agenda is year-round tourism.

This concept is particularly important for seasonal destinations.

When tourism is concentrated only for three to four months, businesses struggle to find staff during the high season and may lose their employees at the end of the season. Hotels and restaurants have to rehire and train every year.

Extending the season does not only increase room revenue.

It can also create advantages in terms of longer employee contracts, more stable supply, more sustainable restaurant operations, and the ability for employees to stay in the destination.

However, year-round tourism cannot be achieved with just a slogan.

Different demand reasons such as congress, sports, gastronomy, culture, health, events, and weekend tourism must be integrated into the same destination strategy.

Local Governments as Part of the Tourism Product

It is also significant that the Tourism Cities Summit directly includes mayors and local governments in the program.

Because a large part of the destination experience occurs outside the hotel.

Transportation, cleanliness, public spaces, signage, event permits, beach and park management, night economy regulations, and urban infrastructure are influenced by the decisions of municipalities.

A hotel can provide excellent service; however, if transportation, public space, or environmental issues in the destination are poor, the overall city experience for the guest may still be weakened.

Therefore, it is clear that destination management requires real data sharing and joint planning between the private sector and local government.

What Can the B2B Side Provide for Cities?

ATF26's overall structure does not consist solely of conferences. The organizer aims to bring together hotels, tour operators, travel agencies, suppliers, and technology companies through a hosted buyer system and pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings.

According to GTP Headlines, it is stated that ATF26 aims to attract over 1,000 tourism brands and more than 45,000 professionals from over 100 countries. These are not realized results but the expectations of the organizer.

The main opportunity for cities may lie here.

A destination's visibility at the fair only generates economic value if it turns into a real product development discussion with tour operators.

For example, if a new gastronomy route is being promoted, DMC capacity, hotel inventory, transfers, guiding, and reservation models must also be ready.

The message "Visit our city" is not sufficient on its own in B2B tourism.

Why is City Tourism Becoming More Important in Turkey?

Turkey's tourism product has long produced high volume along the sea-sand-sun axis. This model is still strong.

However, city tourism offers different advantages.

The season can be longer. F&B spending can take a higher share. Culture, gastronomy, shopping, events, and business travel can converge in the same destination.

Additionally, it creates opportunities for cities outside the main tourism centers to establish their own economic value.

However, for this, cities need to define their own product-portfolio combination instead of copying each other's campaigns.

If every city says "gastronomy, culture, and nature," real differentiation does not occur.

Stafflink's View

In our opinion, the most valuable outcome of the Tourism Cities Summit will not be bringing 15, 17, or any other number of mayors to the same stage.

The real success will be the ability of cities to transform tourism from promotional activities to an operable destination product.

If there is no route that a tour operator can sell, demand that will keep the hotel open year-round, a visitor profile that will enable the restaurant to use more local products, and an event calendar that will provide longer seasons for employees, then city branding remains in the communication campaign.

The next stage of city tourism in Turkey needs to be measurable destination economy rather than "more promotion."