Turkey seeks to diversify the tourism market, in particular, there is demand in such alternative regions as Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Albania, and the United Kingdom. The head of the Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TÜROFED) Sururi Chorabatir told Anadolu Agency about this.
According to him, Turkey received 8,885,876 tourists in January-April this year, 7,477,047 of which are foreigners, which is 172.51 percent more than in the same period in 2021.
The head of TÜROFED noted that at the beginning of the year, representatives of the tourism sector sought to surpass the performance of 2019, the brightest period in the tourism sector, but revised their expectations due to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“Russia and Ukraine are two important markets for the tourism sector in Turkey, however, despite the situation in the north of the Black Sea and the resulting decline in both markets, since the beginning of the year there has been a generally positive trend in the total number of foreign tourists in Turkey,” Chorabatir said.
According to him, in the first four months of this year, Germany has become the leader of the tourist flow, Bulgaria is in second place and Iran is third.
“Followed by Russia and the UK. This season, alternative markets have appeared. We see that demand is growing from markets such as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, and Albania, and the UK market has also returned. In addition, requests began to arrive from the markets of the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East. The Israeli market has also developed. Even if it seems that we will not be able to close the gap associated with the markets of Russia and Ukraine, I hope that we will reach the set figures,” Chorabatir said.
At the same time, the head of TÜROFED drew attention to the well-coordinated activities of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey and the stakeholders of the tourism industry, who were able to establish good governance both during the pandemic and during the war between Russia and Ukraine.
They understand very well how important the diversity of the market is in these processes, Chorabathir noted.
In addition, the head of TÜROFED drew attention to the requirements in the tourism sector, which have changed, mainly after the end of the pandemic.
The number of boutiques and other individual holiday destinations has also increased, which also affects per capita income, said the head of TÜROFED. “At the moment, income per tourist in Turkey has grown from $670 to $830 and even to $840. We are working to bring this figure to $1,000,” Chorabatir added.