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Turkish H1 Tourist Arrivals Abysmal

Turkish H1 Tourist Arrivals Abysmal
Turkish H1 Tourist Arrivals Abysmal

Yusuf Hucisuleyman, the president of Union of Mediterranean Hotel Owners, said Antalya has seen 450,000 fewer visitors already this year. He further said the figure is likely to increase to one million by the end of the season.

According to Hucisuleyman, it is hoped that things will soon normalize after offering attractive prices to local tourists. He explained that employment opportunities will go down by 10 percent due to the decline in the number of tourists.

He said the 189,000 tourism-related current jobs might reduce by 18,000 to 20,000, industry website Tourism Review reported.

Russians make up the bulk of tourist arrivals in Turkey, but statistics suggest the number of Russian visitors has dropped by 30%. Experts forecast that the Turkish economy will suffer a loss of $2.5 billion.

Chairman of Turkish Association of Travel Agents Basaran Ulusoy said although Russian tourists had reduced, the number of American, British and German visitors increased. He was, however, quick to point out that the situation had not been caused by Turkey, but by Russia.

Ulusoy also said other countries depict Turkey as a war zone simply because the country is next to Syria. He said that is very far from the truth because Turkey’s closest province to Syria is Sanliurfa, but these countries have continued to report that war plagues Istanbul.

Muhammet Emin, a director of Rawda Hotels Turkey, said as a result of a reduction in the number of visitors, hotel prices have continued to rise.

 

Financialtribune.com