With any unfavorable development of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Turkey may lose up to 1 million tourists – and this is the bare minimum. Although experts express hopes that the Russian-Ukrainian market can be replaced by something, these hopes are unlikely to come true. This was stated by the President of the Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ATSO) Davut Çetin, issuing an assessment of the consequences of tensions between Russia and Ukraine in tourism.
“50% of all tourists in Antalya come from Russia and Ukraine, so any tension between the two countries is a concern. We receive more than 4 million tourists from Russia. About 1 million from Ukraine. At the same time, in general, in any political circumstances, tourists still came to us. But this crisis threatens to be global. At best, we will lose 1 million,” said Mr. Cetin.
He noted that at the same time there is hope for European markets – due to the fact that the impact of the pandemic began to subside. “I am very happy that England has lifted the quarantine and restrictions. This is one of our most important markets. If other countries follow this, we will not have big problems in tourism,” he assured, adding that Turkey “has an image problem” for the EU countries.
“But, I will say it again, if we are talking about Russian-Ukrainian business, then this year we may have nothing but trouble. I hope we will be able to get out of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis without any problems,” he said.