Prices in Turkish hotels – at least if we talk about hotels in Istanbul – remain at the “minimum of the week” and are growing rapidly. In 2023, experts predict a growth of at least 20%. At the same time, hoteliers are sure that if there is no “inflation and recession”, then primarily European tourists will cope with this increase, that is, it will not scare them away. Otherwise, tourism will suffer seriously. This assessment was voiced in the Turkish media by the chairman of the board of directors of Levni Hotels, Aydin Karadzhabay.
He said he expects around 0% price growth in 2023 “with bookings returning to normal.” In exact figures, the prices for rooms, which fell to 70 euros due to the coronavirus, exceeded 120 euros. And at least during 2023, when there will be active demand from tourists who have postponed their trips due to covid, the trend will continue. However, the rapid rise in prices will stop by 2024, the expert believes.
“So far, despite talk of recession and inflation, our prices are acceptable for Western tourists. If there is both inflation and recession, tourism will also suffer. However, the situation is still not clear,” said Mr. Karadzhabai.
We will remind you that other Turkish experts talked about price increases earlier. Thus, Müberra Eresin, president of the Turkish Association of Hoteliers (TÜROB) stated the following: “The daily cost of a room in Turkey in September 2022 was 142.2 euros on average. In 2019, this figure was 83.33 euros. The price per room from the total number of rooms in September 2022 was 110.6 euros. In 2019, this figure was 61.9 euros,” said the Turkish expert. That is, the price has almost doubled.
At the same time, the hotels have nowhere to go – the reason for the growth is not only the increased demand of tourists but also objective circumstances – the hotels themselves are “pressured” by the increase in prices for the necessary resources, first of all, for electricity. Currently, the price of electricity in Turkey for hotels is 1.3 lira per kilowatt. However, a report from the local main energy company Enerji SA, which has caused panic, claims that the price will increase by 100% to 2.6 lire by the end of the year, and again to 3.6 lire in January.
At the same time, hotels are critically dependent on the cost of electricity – we can only mention the air conditioners in the rooms, which consume a huge amount of kilowatts in the summer, and in the winter, already working for heating. Adding here such an obvious expense of the off-season and winter season as the heating of swimming pools in many popular hotels, as a banal increase in the working time of all lighting due to the short daylight hours. In addition, the increase in energy prices in the country leads to a general increase in food prices, which also puts pressure on hotels. Details in “DIP” article “Turkish hotels in panic: they were officially stunned by new prices“.