Hotels did not “get back on their feet” – this is how the general director of the Turkish 5-star hotel in Istanbul, Swissotel Bosphorus, Ugur Talaikhan defined the situation in the last summer season of 2023. In his speech at the “2023 Season Assessment and 2024 Expectations” panel at the Istanbul Tourism Fair (ITF), he also voiced the main reasons for the season’s problems, according to Turkish media.
Among them are the earthquake in the south of the country that hit Turkey in February just before the start of the tourist season and the massively gloomy predictions of experts about a quick earthquake in Istanbul, which caused European tourists to turn away from Turkey, as well as the rapid growth of alternative to hotels – and illegal – accommodation options. At the same time, he urged to look for a possible alternative to European tourists in unexpected markets.
“After the earthquake and the elections, hotels, and especially the luxury segment, were unable to act quickly and lost this season. Moreover, in Istanbul, this mainly concerns hotels in the 4 and 5* category – and they own 65 thousand out of 155 thousand places,” he said. It was this segment that experienced under-occupancy and price pressure, while the segment of economy and budget hotels turned out to be very successful. Private landlords also won, including illegal ones – for example, the number of offers for accommodation on Airbnb increased sharply, the hotelier added.
At the same time, he advises looking for “fresh blood” in other markets – first of all, consider tourists from China and India. “We should focus on the Asian region. India and China are extremely important markets. 3 billion people live in these two countries,” he said. However, Chinese tourists are not too interested in “beach” tourism, which is one of Turkey’s strengths. However for the Istanbul hotelier, the problems of “beachgoers” are not so urgent.
Mr. Talaikhan also urged “not to force” tourism and prices “because Arabs or Russians did not come”, as happened this season. “Many tourists from the Persian Gulf region and Europe went to other destinations this year. The main reason for this was the constant news that an earthquake would happen in Istanbul soon”, – this is what the expert called the first reason.
We will remind you that starting from February and the natural disaster in Turkey, Istanbul was “prophesied terrible”. For example, back in February, Professor Hvalun Ahmet Ercan, a well-known earthquake forecasting expert in Turkey, said that the city was waiting for a “Great Earthquake”. “During the Geldzhuk earthquake in 1999, the energy equivalent to 132 atomic bombs was released, draining most of the voltage of Marmara. Later, an earthquake occurred in Duzhe. Due to the war, the tension of the earth’s crust in this region was removed. 22 years have passed since that moment, and tensions have again become critical. This means that an earthquake as an output of displacement energy can occur at any moment. And after 2035, it is generally necessary to ring the bells: the most risky period will begin after 2045, and Istanbul will have a strong blow that can simply destroy the city,” the professor said.
In August, even the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, supported the frightening forecasts. Speaking at a ceremony dedicated to the 22nd anniversary of the devastating earthquake on August 17, 1999, in the Sea of Marmara, he said that “the city froze in anticipation of the strongest earthquake”, which will have colossal destructive consequences – at least a third of the buildings of the former Constantinople will be damaged. do not meet the principles of seismological stability. Moreover, the mayor separately clarified that many hotels were built quite a long time ago and without proper correction for seismic resistance, therefore, due to time, as well as the increasing frequency and strength of earthquakes, they belong to the old fund. Any serious underground storms could lead to their destruction and new victims.
So far, the forecasts have not come true, but hoteliers have to overcome their consequences. The second reason for the difficulties of the season, he called the number of offers to rent real estate from private individuals, which “increased sharply”, and in all segments. We will remind you that Turkey joins the ranks of the fighters against Airbnb and similar services – in the new law, “illegals” are supposed to be fined 1 million liras, and in general, Istanbul can follow the experience of Florence and generally “kick out” renters from the historical center (read here).