The visa policy of European countries for Turkish citizens is deteriorating, which causes serious concern in the tourism sector of the republic. Some European countries completely stopped issuing visas to Turkish citizens for a certain period, which came as a shock to tourists and travel agents.
Thus, according to information published by the Turkish newspaper Turizmguncel, representatives of the tourism agency Tourism Current expressed concern about the worsening situation and said that the visa problem is not being solved, but is only getting worse.
An employee of a Turkish travel agency specializing in the organization of trips to European countries reported: “Earlier, we could get a visa in 1-1.5 months, but now we are scheduled for an appointment two months later.”
Currently, the most popular destinations among Turkish tourists, such as Germany, Italy, and Spain, are particularly acutely affected. Turks most often apply for visas to these countries that are members of the Schengen Agreement. This trio of European states announced the suspension of issuing visas for a week, which seriously undermined the previous travel planning of Turkish travelers. But there are others.
It is known that the French consulate only made appointments at the end of July, and Greece introduced quotas for travel agencies. We are talking about only 3-5 quotas per day for some travel agencies, while others do not provide them at all. Such ambiguous selectivity seriously complicates the work of Turkish tourism.
Travel agents are now worried about tours scheduled for July, as agencies fear that visas will not be issued when the trip begins. This may be only the beginning. Such actions significantly complicate the movement of Turkish citizens and harm travel agencies and the entire tourism sector.