Automotive Expotrs November 2022

More tourists to
rush to Türkiye
this winter as
European prices
soar
Turkish travel companies are expecting a
rush of European tourists in the months
ahead amid higher demand following the
coronavirus pandemic and as energy prices
rocket.
“This winter we expect more tourists
than in previous years,” Cem Polatoğlu,
spokesperson for the travel operators’
association Tur Operatörleri Platformu, told
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).
“During the pandemic, people could not go
on holiday for a long time. Now that travel
restrictions have been lifted, many tourists
will feel as though they have ‘broken free
from chains,’” he said.
Additionally, the high costs of energy in
Europe are also leading to an increase in
reservations during the winter season,
particularly for accommodation that costs
less, he said. Europe faces an acute energy
crunch heading into winter after Russia
cut gas supplies in response to Western
sanctions imposed over its invasion of
Ukraine.
“It is positive for the tourism sector that
European tourists – especially pensioners
– prefer long holidays in Türkiye during
the winter months due to the increase in
natural gas prices,” said Ali Onaran, chair of
tour operator Prontotour.
He said his data showed that demand
was particularly high “from countries like
Germany, England and the Netherlands.”
Onaran said it was encouraging that more
people were booking their holidays during
the winter period despite global inflation.
“There are developments such as rising fuel
costs, energy expenses, food crises, which
affect ticket and hotel prices and therefore
people’s overall travel budget,” he said.
Despite those factors, bookings were in line
with tour operators’ expectations.
A further incentive for people to head to
Türkiye on their holidays may be the weak
Turkish lira, according to Polatoğlu.
For tourists, he said that booking a package
holiday at a five-star hotel in Türkiye
currently costs less than spending the time
in Europe. “And with much more comfort
than at home,” Polatoğlu added.
Rebound in Türkiye’s critical tourism
industry this year has been driven by
a major leap in demand from Europe,
spearheaded by Germany and the United
Kingdom, as well as Russia.
The number of holidaymakers more
than doubled in the first eight months
of the year. Around 29.3 million tourists
arrived in Türkiye from January through
August, marking a 108.5% climb from a
year ago, on pace to roughly match the
pre-pandemic levels of 2019, according to
Culture and Tourism Ministry data.
The first eight-month figure stood at 14.1
million in 2021, 7.2 million in 2020 and
31 million in 2019. The arrivals have been
mainly backed by Russian visitors, who
increasingly opted for Türkiye due to flight
restrictions applied by Western countries
after Russia invaded Ukraine, as well as
tourists from Europe. However, the number
of German and British visitors rose strongly
this year. At 3.85 million, tourists from
Germany topped the list among nations
and made up 13% of all visitors in the
first eight months, with arrivals jumping
105.73% from a year ago.
Russians followed with just over 3 million, a
22.8% year-over-year increase, and Britons
ranked third with 2.36 million, a whopping
2,120% surge from the same period in
2021, according to the data.
Tourism revenues are vital to Türkiye’s
economy as the government’s new
economic program focuses on flipping
the chronic current account deficits to a
surplus, prioritizing exports, production
and investments, and aiming to lower
the increase in consumer prices. The
government raised its year-end targets in
July to 47 million tourists and $37 billion in
revenues, up from its earlier targets of 45
million arrivals and $35 billion in income.
November 2022 40