The Phrygian Valley is waiting for you...

This week, I hosted the shopkeepers of the Phrygian Valley in the Report Program. We talked about the tourism potential of the region and the demands of the shopkeepers and local people.

The tradesmen who started tourism in the region at a young age have interesting stories. They established the Phrygian Culture and Tourism Association called Frigyader in the region. They have prepared many projects and the most striking one is that they will restart the Ayazini Culture and Tourism Festival this year, which was held 12 years ago. There will be various programs not only in Ayazini but all over the valley. Yunus Yılmaz, who is also a child of that region, is the President of the Association. He gets very excited when he talks about their activities. Zeynep Karakol and Aziz Ahmet Özdemir also join this excitement. Yunus Yılmaz's main job is Financial Consultancy and he opened the village houses that he inherited from his ancestors and grandfathers. Aziz Ahmet Özdemir opened an authentic place in Üçler Kayası, where he was born and grew up in his childhood. He offers the natural products of the region to his guests here. Aziz Ahmet and his wife are always at work. His parents also support them. Aziz Ahmet has been interested in tourism since his childhood. He runs behind the tour buses that come to their village. He tells tourists about the region as much as he can. When he returned from the military, he bought a piece of land and built his first building before the pandemic. Even though his relatives tried to discourage him, he did not give up. In that single building, he serves his guests the food prepared by his mother in their home in the village. Especially guests from abroad like the food very much. They recommend it to others, and the number of customers increases day by day. Additional facilities are being built. Aziz Ahmet, who also uses social media well, is now a well-known tourist in the country and around the world. Zeynep Karakol is the child of a family with important investments in many sectors. She is also a horse archery athlete. After a competition in the region, she decided to invest in Ayazini with the advice of Mr. District Governor. The fact that he left very important businesses and started a new life here reminded me of "The Sage Who Sold His Ferrari". He and his mother own two separate businesses. Their house is above their workplace.

Before the program, I visited the area and met with other tradesmen, guests and local people. There are two important demands of the region, the first is the completion of the unfinished street improvement and restoration works. The village headman says that the water supply is not enough when tourism is intense. The common demand of the tradesmen is that they want public transportation here. Especially university students come here with the vehicle of the neighboring town. It is also said to be insufficient. My idea is that buses like a ring line can transport from several places in the region with a single ticket. There are more than thirty thousand students in the first place, if they see the region at least once, it means thirty thousand tourism ambassadors. If they announce it to three people, it means about a hundred thousand tourists. This is a good figure for the first stage. Another important issue is that some private and public facilities built in the region are closed. Some of them were never opened, some were opened and then closed. Million dollar investments are wasted. The demands of these facilities should be listened to and if necessary, they should be transferred to other investors. There are also major deficiencies in promotion. After the elections, advertisements of tourism regions in Afyonkarahisar should be placed on billboards starting from neighboring provinces. Importance should be given to activities that can be news for national channels. I constantly follow the agenda in Afyonkarahisar. I thought the hot air balloons in Lake Emre were gone. I met their employees by chance in the region. They were continuing even at a loss. They were standing with the profits the company made from other regions. They also fly at very affordable prices compared to other tourism regions. Lack of promotion affects them too. You should definitely have the experience of visiting that historical region from a thousand meters.

This is the column of Kemal Baykara, one of the writers of Gazete 3 internet news website, published on 08 March 2024. Source: https://www.gazete3.com.tr/frig-vadisi-sizleri-bekliyor/