Lower prices for accommodation in Turkish hotels and the outflow of Russian tourists have changed the “level” travelers coming to Turkey from Europe: in the new season, “pseudo-Europeans” choose the cheapest all-inclusive options, eat the entire buffet clean and are ready to bargain for pennies in local shops for half an hour, just to get a coveted discount of one or two euros .
As the Turkish media noted, the tourist season in Antalya has started and sellers of tourist gifts and clothes have already identified incoming tourists as guests who do not want to spend money. For example, in Manavgat, where 5.5 million domestic and foreign tourists rest annually, due to pandemic restrictions, the last two years have been very difficult for tourism and local businessmen. At present, although the covid in Turkey has been “farewell”, local merchants do not see the former foreign guests who buy them from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and the CIS countries without bargaining. According to him, the purchasing power of tourists from Iran, Iraq and other Arab countries, as a rule, also could not be counted on. The main profit was brought by European tourists, mainly Germans.
However, discounts from Turkish hoteliers on accommodation with meals did not attract the segment that local merchants were counting on. “What can tourists afford to buy if they come to a hotel that costs 30 euros a day? some market businessmen asked. The latter were outraged by the pricing for tourists from Europe: “All inclusive” for 320 euros with a flight for the UK for a week, 350 euros for Germany for 10 days … you need to understand that a tourist who comes on such a vacation does not make a purchase.
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“It is a pity that five-star hotels above the tourism criteria set by the World Tourism Organization are now being sold for only 20-30 euros per day. We must attract tourists to our country and Antalya with the spending potential that we lost in the 2000s. In order for us to attract high-quality and courageous tourists to Antalya, it is necessary to implement the universal legal norms of the European Union (EU) in the judiciary and in all other areas. If this is not done, imagine that European tourists with low solvency will come to us,” said tourism expert Guldal.
The newspapers quoted the chairman of the Association for Relief and Solidarity with Traders in Managavt. His words clearly explain the current situation in Turkey: at present, tourists who travel from Germany for a low hotel price are actually Arabs. Formally, these are citizens of a European country who, when booking, say that they are Germans. However, local businessmen understand that Arab vacationers will not buy anything more than what is offered at the hotel. The difference is that true Germans do not skimp and buy goods at resorts without bargaining.
According to him, in order for tourist artisans in Turkey to breathe a sigh of relief, it is urgent to attract high-quality and solvent tourists to Antalya from Europe, as it was 18 years ago, and added that a tourist who negotiates for half an hour in the market to buy clothes for 1 euro cheaply will not contribute to the development of tourism in the region.
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