In Turkey, the time is approaching when there will be no places left in hotels at all. Thanks to the Kurban Bayram “long weekend” extended to nine days by order of President Erdoğan, hotels in Antalya are seeing a surge in demand from domestic Turkish tourists and are expecting up to 100% occupancy. And it will happen already at the end of June – at the beginning of July, starting from 06.27.23. Therefore, tour operators recommend that tourists hurry to book tours for these dates.
In 2023, the Muslim holiday of Kurban Bayram, aka Eid al-Adha, begins on the night of June 27-28, and traditionally it is celebrated for three days, but this year President Erdogan decided to increase the number of days off to nine – and it seems that domestic tourists appreciated the gift.
“People have already started actively booking hotels for Kurban Bayram,” explains Kaan Cavaloglu, president of the Mediterranean Association of Tourism Hoteliers and Operators (AKTOB). As a result, experts predict that all hotels will be very busy.
“We expect that hotel occupancy in major resorts will be close to 100 percent during this period,” said Riza Percin, head of the Mediterranean Region Representative Council of the Association of Travel Agencies of Turkey (TÜRSAB). President of the Association of Hoteliers of Turkey (TÜROB) Muberra Eresin gives an estimate of “up to 80%”. Moreover, the main flow will fall on Antalya and the Aegean coast of Turkey, that is, places where European tourists also like to rest.
Therefore, tour operators are warning – you need to book tours with arrivals from June 27 to July 6 now. First, prices will rise. Secondly, there is a high chance that there will simply not be any places left in the selected hotels.