The sector, which starts the season in Turkey with the Tourism Week between 15-22 April every year, opened the season approximately 1 month early with three holidays this year.
The tourism industry, which opened the 2024 season early with Nevruz, Easter and Ramadan holidays, will experience four important holidays and holidays in the next two months.
The Netherlands has holidays related to King’s Day on April 27, followed by Russia’s Victory Day holidays celebrated on May 9, followed by Germany’s Pfingsten holiday at the end of May and Eid al-Adha in mid-June. Four important holidays await in a two-month period.
THERE IS A 20 PERCENT INCREASE COMPARED TO LAST YEAR
Kaan Kavaloğlu, President of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers and Operators Association (AKTOB), said that this year the tourism season opened early, as of the third week of March, with the Nevruz, Easter and nine-day Ramadan holidays in early April.
Stating that there is a 20 percent increase in the number of tourists compared to last year, Kavaloğlu said, “We can say that this was probably the best start of the first three months. As far as we see at the moment, Russia, Germany, England and Poland are our most effective markets. “It is very positive that April went so well,” he said.
FOUR MORE HOLIDAYS ARE COMING
AKTOB President Kavaloğlu said, “The Netherlands has a holiday period at the end of April. Then there is the Russian holiday at the beginning of May. Germany has a holiday starting from the third week. Then comes the Eid al-Adha holiday in June and July and August. Therefore, our current expectations are entirely positive. Our Minister of Culture and Tourism has a target: 60 billion dollars of income and 60 million tourists. Antalya will do its part by exceeding 17 million people this year. As of this weekend, more than 1.5 million people came to Antalya compared to last year. These 1.5 million people are very valuable. “This corresponds to an increase of approximately 20 percent,” he said.
DOMESTIC TOURISM BOOKINGS ARE INCREASING
Giving examples of Germany surpassing Russia for the first time in three months this year, England coming second for the first time and Russia being third, Kavaloğlu said, “I see that tourists from Germany will push 4 million for the first time. When we look at it in this sense, I think we will easily exceed our target of 17 million. Ramadan holiday was very important for us in terms of domestic tourism. Since the holiday was nine days, people had the chance to have more holidays and also had the chance to split their holidays. Domestic tourists know how to make early reservations, just like tourists from abroad. “With the continuation of credit card installments, reservations in the domestic market will increase,” he said.
HIGH SEASON STARTS IN MAY
Stating that the sector, which closed 2023 with a record, has further expanded its 2024 targets, İsmail Çağlar, general manager of a 5-star hotel, noted that positive signals of this target were seen in the first three months of the year.
Stating that this tourism season coincides with three holidays, Çağlar said, “We received a significant number of guests from Iran during Nevruz, and from Western Europe, England, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and a few Baltic countries during Easter. Our hotels were filled with domestic tourism during Ramadan Feast. We will truly enter the high season at the beginning of May. Closed hotels will be opened region by region. There are facilities in Kundu and Belek that provide service for 12 months. “As Kemer and Bodrum move further north, revival in Kuşadası and these regions will begin in May,” he said.
Hakan Saatçioğlu, President of the Association of Professional Hotel Managers (POYD), stated that hotels reached 90-95 percent occupancy during the holiday period, especially with last-minute reservations, and that there was a small decrease after the holiday, and said, “But as of last weekend, reservations are increasing again. We should also not forget that hotels that were closed are now opening. Therefore, there will be a slight decrease in occupancy rates. I think it will rise again to 80-85 percent with the Russian holiday. “After that, our future is clear,” he said.
EXCHANGE AND INFLATION PROBLEM
Stating that they still receive very serious reservations from Europe, Saatçioğlu said, “When we compare this year as of April 21 last year, there is an increase of approximately 16 percent, which makes us happy. When we look at it compared to April last year, there is an increase of 5.8 percent. So, it looks like it will continue with a 6 percent increase in real terms so far. A significant flow of reservations from Europe continues. Apart from this, unfortunately, we are going through difficult times because the exchange rates are not where they should be. We are experiencing difficulties, especially since all our expenses are in Turkish lira and the Turkish lira is facing inflation every day. We are faced with a backslide, especially since meat, milk and foodstuff prices have increased significantly and our incomes are based on Euros. “I hope the exchange rate will reach where it should be as soon as possible, at the end of April or mid-May,” he said.
THERE IS A STAFF SHORTAGE
Pointing out that personnel problems continue, Saatçioğlu said, “We are trying to solve this problem by supplying personnel from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Indonesia. We need a lot of our staff coming from these countries since they are generally blue collar workers. We do not have any major problems in senior positions. But unfortunately we have a problem in blue collar jobs,” he said.
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