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Turkey’s tourism is in crisis

The “revival” of tourism that Turkey expected in early 2022 will not happen this summer: after the pandemic tourism crisis shines a new one, and it’s not just the Russian invasion of Ukraine, for Turkish hotels, there is another important crisis factor. Moreover, there will be no “zero risk-free seasons” in Turkey at all, Turkish experts say.

The reason for this is, firstly, the war in Ukraine, which brought down two main markets supplying tourists to Turkey, and secondly, the recession of the Turkish economy itself, because of which the government raised electricity prices so much that hotels simply had nothing to pay such bills.

According to Erkan Zirjiji, President of the Association of Mediterranean Hoteliers and Operators (ACTOV), in 2019 both world and Turkish tourism peaked, but in 2020 a pandemic broke out, and at the end of the pandemic the country entered a new crisis. related to the war in Ukraine and the general economic crisis.

“The war between Russia and Ukraine began at a time when we were considering the cost of electricity and other resources. We will have to come to terms with the fact that the crisis is not over – and we will not have a zero risk-free season, “said the Turkish expert. At the same time, the goal of Turkish hoteliers remains global. “We need to increase tourism revenues per capita by more than a thousand dollars,” said Sururi Noskbatir, president of the Turkish Hotel Federation (TUROFED).

In particular, he called for attention to the domestic market, which “under normal conditions” Turkish hoteliers ignore, as well as to solve priority problems.

Also read: In Turkey, there was a huge scandal over hotel prices

“In the process of the pandemic, investment in tourism stopped, debts increased, revenues fell. And most importantly – we lost qualified staff. our employees went to the agricultural sector. We can no longer return them. This problem is a problem not only for Turkey but also in Europe. The return of tourists from Germany and the United Kingdom to Turkey requires qualified staff,” he said, reading more in the article “There is a shortage of hotel staff in Turkey, which destroys all their plans and threatens tourists.”

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