The potential of “explosive bookings” accumulated during covid is almost completely exhausted, and the economic crisis, multiplied by the heat in the Mediterranean, finally inhibits the potential demand for tours in all markets. As a result, hoteliers record a massive decrease in bookings.
Hotels in Turkey will have to come to terms with the inevitable reduction in prices, and other destinations will follow them, including Greece and Spain. Such an assessment from major tourism officials was voiced in the Turkish press.
In particular, Hakan Saatcioglu, vice president of the Association of Professional Hotel Managers (POYD), said that the hotels of the “higher segment” will have to “inevitably make price concessions”. The reason is occupancy issues. “In August, there is a problem in the upper segment hotels. There may be a 10-15% gap in occupancy. We are trying to minimize it,” Turkish travel media quoted him as saying.
It’s not just Turkey that is suffering, with Spain’s Mallorca also saying bookings from Germany, one of their source markets, are slowing. As a result, hotel occupancy in Mallorca was around 65% in July and is forecast to drop further in August.
Tourists are deterred by the intense heat, and in addition, there is an obvious economic crisis in Germany – to the point that the local “leftists” claim that about a fifth of all Germans cannot afford even a week’s vacation (read details here). As a result, Spanish hotels in Mallorca, except for the most popular ones, have reduced their prices for August and September to increase occupancy. Eurocontrol notes a similar situation with regard to Greece.