The “revival” of tourism that Turkey counted on at the beginning of 2022 will not happen this summer: following the pandemic crisis, tourism shines new, and it's not just the Russian special operation in Ukraine, for Turkish hotels there is another important crisis factor. Moreover, there will be no more “zero risk-free season” in Turkey at all, Turkish experts assure.
The reason for this is, firstly, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which brought down the two main markets supplying tourists to Turkey, and secondly, the recession of the Turkish economy, which caused the government to raise electricity prices so much that hotels simply had nothing to pay for such bills.
As stated by the President of the Association of Tourist Hoteliers and Operators of the Mediterranean (ACTOV). Erkan Zhirjici, in 2019, both global and Turkish tourism reached their peak, but in 2020 a pandemic arose, and by the time the pandemic ended, the country entered a new crisis associated with a special operation in Ukraine and a general economic crisis.
< p>“The conflict between Russia and Ukraine began at a time when we were considering the cost of electricity and other resources. We will have to come to terms with the fact that the crisis is not over – and we will not have a zero risk-free season,” the Turkish expert emphasized. At the same time, the goal of Turkish hoteliers remains global. “We need to increase tourism revenue per capita by more than a thousand dollars,” said Sururi Noskbatyr, president of the Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TUROFED).
In particular, he called for attention to the domestic market, which “is in normal conditions” Turkish hoteliers are ignoring, as well as solve priority problems.
“During the pandemic, investment in tourism has ceased, debts have increased, incomes have fallen. And most importantly, we have lost qualified personnel. our employees went to the agricultural sector. We can no longer return them. This problem is not only a problem for Turkey, but also for Europe. The return of tourists from Germany and the UK to Turkey requires qualified personnel,” he said.
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