Turkish tour operators are concerned about the events taking place in Russia and Ukraine and the winds of war blowing from there. The events taking place in these countries have caused cancellations of tour reservations in the CIS countries, as well as a serious decline at the beginning of the tourist season.
The long-standing unrest in Ukraine, Russia's intervention in Crimea and the worldwide concern about a possible war have worried tour operators in Turkey. The Commonwealth of Independent States countries, watching the developments in the world and, first of all, in Ukraine and Russia, are refusing to book tours, which in turn is causing a serious decline in the tourism market in Turkey.
Events of concern
Osman Ayik, head of the Federation of Turkish Hoteliers, described the events taking place in Russia and Ukraine as worrying.
"It is difficult to say anything definite at the moment. Since the unrest in Ukraine began, the growth of tour bookings has slowed down... There is some tension, which may cause the flow of bookings to stop. If what is happening there does not move to another plane, taking on a softer form, then everything will very quickly return to normal. Because the (tourist) markets there are very lively. At the moment, it is impossible to say anything more specific."
The flow of tour bookings has stopped
Noting the suspension of bookings and downtime of travel agencies along with the ongoing events, Ali Kızıldag, head of the Association of Professional Hotel Managers, said the following:
“There are no tour bookings, and this situation is quite natural. If there is a threat of war, then people are concerned about the safety of their lives and property. It is still unclear what kind of intervention Russia will have in these matters, whether there will be a tense conflict or not, and if there is, then to what extent it will be tense. And if a very tough conflict arises with the intervention of the West, then the development of events will be negative for us too. And statements like “war will not affect Russians” are not true. Their rapid entry into a peaceful environment is very important for workers in the tourism industry in Turkey. This tension must end soon. The uncertainty that will last in April and May, from our point of view, will open the way for a negative development of events.”
On the Ukrainian side, the cancellation of tour bookings has reached very serious proportions.
The second largest market
Last year, Turkey was visited by 34 million 910 thousand foreign tourists. The Russian Federation became the second country after Germany that sent the most tourists to Turkey. 4 million 269 thousand Russians visited Turkey, that is, 12,23% of the total number of tourists. If we add the number of tourists from the CIS countries to this number, we get 8 million 607 thousand 486 people. The number of Ukrainian tourists who visited Turkey last year amounted to 756 thousand 187 people, or 2,17% of the total number of tourists.
The main preference of Ukrainians and Russians in Turkey was Antalya. In 2013, 3 million 338 thousand 166 people out of 4,2 million Russians and 384 thousand out of 756 thousand Ukrainians preferred Antalya. Last year, for the first time in the history of the capital of tourism, Antalya, the number of Russian tourists exceeded the number of German tourists. In the first 2 months of this year, Antalya was visited by 36 thousand 415 Russians and 3 thousand 403 Ukrainian tourists.
