Rising prices in Turkish hotels have exacerbated problems with the illegal private sector. Judging by the speeches of professional associations and individual hoteliers, it can be said that Turkish hotels found the culprit in the failed season: they turned out to be foreigners who settled in the country. As Turkish experts assure, they willingly rent out houses to their compatriots, as a result, the country does not receive taxes, and hotels lack tourists. Moreover, there are no less than 30,000 such buildings. Hoteliers are calling to identify such “irresponsible renters” and at least tax them.
As stated in the Turkish mass media, the plans of the tourism sector of 60 million tourists with an income of at least 56 billion dollars do not seem to be justified. Tourism is “going through tough times in terms of revenue” as hotel occupancy remains at only 50-60%, with major resorts such as Bodrum and Antalya. It is already obvious that July, which was traditionally the busiest month at the resorts, did not live up to expectations.
Tourism experts, who lost a “large part of the pie”, also found the culprit – they say that due to the “extreme” increase in hotel prices, tourists began to actively prefer the private sector, and not only domestic tourists but also foreigners. Hotels complain that the number of unregistered houses and villas, as well as accommodation rented out through the Airbnb service, is “damaging the sector”. As calculated by the Association of Hoteliers of Turkey (TÜROB), the average number of Airbnb and unregistered houses is estimated at approximately 25,000-30,000. There are especially many of them in Istanbul and Antalya, experts add.
“The number of tourists arriving from abroad is increasing, but hotels do not see them. The occupancy of hotels does not correspond to the entry figures. The reason for this is Airbnb and unregistered places of accommodation for tourists,” said, for example, one of the members of the association, Director of Sales and Marketing of Elite World Hotels and Emel Elik Bezaroglu. At the same time, he emphasized that the unregistered private sector “causes problems both from the point of view of security and from the point of view of taxation.
“Every detail in the tourism sector, from the point of view of taxes, employment, and expenditure, is carried out according to official procedures. That’s why our prices are, of course, a little higher. It is related to expenses,” he said. But tourists, of course, are looking for more convenient ways.
He was supported by Divan Group CEO Murat Tomruk: “Our prices have increased due to costs. This hurt hotel occupancy. As a result, our hotels in Bodrum are filled by 20%. We see that inbound tourists have turned to cheaper solutions, with tourists turning to Airbnb and unregistered places as an alternative.” Moreover, Mr. Tomruk emphasized that this is “unfair competition”, which, moreover, can create a negative image for the entire country. “If some extraordinary event happens to a tourist, no one will tell you, ‘It happened in this house or this hotel’, everyone will say: ‘It happened in Turkey.’ Moreover, it is much easier to face negativity in an uncontrolled environment,” he said.
The expert added that problems with Airbnb also exist abroad. “It is impossible to ban it completely, but there are much more checks and much more registration. This is important at least from the point of view of safety, hygiene, and taxation.’
Ali Onaran, head of Prontotour, expressed his opinion: “First of all, of course, this situation hurts the tourist business of taxpayers who invest in the region. While the tourism facilities associated with the Ministry do their part by paying taxes — which, among other things, go to promote tourism in Turkey — the illegal business brings us employment, safety, and hygiene problems. It is impossible to allow conditions that will create unfair competition.” Some hoteliers generally took a categorical position, saying that Airbnb and similar services should not be allowed in tourist resorts. Shebnem Akman Balta, the founding partner of Sanitas SPA & Wellness and owner of the travel agency Medulux Health & Travel, expressed this opinion: “To prevent the growth of Airbnb, it is necessary to control the licensing of daily rentals and even ensure that they are not rented out in tourist regions. Otherwise, I think that the crisis that the hotels of the upper segment will have to go through will also shift towards 4-star hotels.”
We remind you that this is far from the first performance of hoteliers. With the indignant statement: “They are stealing tourists from us”, – on the pages of the Turkish publication Turizm Gazetesi, representatives of the Turkish tourism business have spoken before. “Foreigners compete with us without paying any taxes, operating “in the dark”. Russians, Germans, and Englishmen buy houses in Alanya and rent them daily and weekly at a high price. At the same time, they do not pay a single penny of taxes to Turkey but earn a lot of money. Stealing tax-paying hotel customers is a shameful crime,” said Mehmet Dahaoglu, vice president of the Alanya Tourism Promotion Fund (ALTAV) and Alanya Tour Operators Association (ALTID). He called for the introduction of restrictions on the online real estate rental site and, in general, for the fight against “customer theft.” Read details here.