A bit of good and bad news for tourism sector
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Anatolia News Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 03, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Turkish tourism is trying to figure out how it will be affected by the global economic crisis, and tourist arrival figures from Marmaris and Antalya do not make the task any easier. Visiting numbers to Marmaris exceed expectations while those to Antalya are below average so far
First reports in 2009 offer both good news and bad news about the impact of the global economic crisis on Turkish tourism.
The number of foreign tourists in Marmara has increased in the first quarter of the year but the number of foreign tourists visiting Antalya has dropped.
As the number of German tourists in Marmaris increased by 5 percent, compared to the first quarter of 2008, the number of British tourists increased by 17 percent.
Turkey Travel Agencies Association, or TURSAB, President Başaran Ulusoy expressed his hope for the future of tourism in Turkey. Agencies are trying to boost domestic tourism through early reservations, said Ulusoy, believing that they would catch, and even surpass, last year’s figures.
Ulusoy said the tourism sector helped Turkey’s integration with the world and opened horizons for the country.
"The tourism industry claims its role in the future of Turkey. As export figures drop and import figures rise, we are playing for the top three in the Mediterranean and top 10 in global destinations. We owe this to our country’s beautiful people and natural beauties. Turkey has everything. So I think we have a very bright future in Turkey," said Ulusoy.
Better service quality
The sector is doing well and they constantly seek better service quality, said Ulusoy. "Reasonable prices with ever increasing quality will place Turkey into the league if we manage the service quality as well."
The economic crisis has not seriously affected tourism, according to Ulusoy, who said people were likely to spend less on clothing during a crisis but would not change what they spent on food and travel.
Turkey’s tourism industry has survived so many economic crises and the last one did not originate in Turkey, Ulusoy said.
"Now we are trying to turn this crisis into an opportunity."
However, the number of foreign tourists flying to Antalya, another tourism center in Turkey, approached 500,000 in the first quarter of 2009 but remains below the figures of last year.
Antalya Culture and Tourism Center announced in a statement that the number of foreign tourists arriving in the city through Dalaman Airport stood at 235,843 and the total number of tourists in the first three months of 2009 was 489,631.
Officials said 314,811 foreign tourists visited Antalya last March and 624,297 visited in the first quarter of 2009.
The Province Culture and Tourism Director İbrahim Acar told the Anatolia news agency that the number of foreign tourists arriving in Antalya by plane has dropped due to the global economic crisis. But Antalya will manage to catch the target, said Acar.
Undesirable numbers
"We are hopeful for the upcoming seasons although the numbers from the first three months were undesirable. Turkey was a point of attraction in all international fairs, so expectations are high. Antalya still attracts people for its modern facilities, service quality, natural and historic beauties. And that is an advantage for the city. We will do better this season with the help of last minute reservations. I think we will catch the same occupancy rate of last year," said Acar.
In the meantime, preparations for the summer season in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions continue at full speed. The Kuşadası port, for instance, has just begun to serve giant cruisers. In March, 16 cruise ships anchored at the Aegean town of Kuşadası. On the first day of April, a total of 1,100 cruises visited Kuşadası.
The "Empress" of Malta carrying Spanish tourists to Turkey will have 16 trips to the Kuşadası port this year, said Tura Regional Tourism Director Ali Kuluyever. "The 2009 season will be quite busy for cruise ship tourism. Throughout the season, we, as Tura, will serve to 175 ships in Kuşadası," said Kuluyever.
The number of foreign tourists in Marmara has increased in the first quarter of the year but the number of foreign tourists visiting Antalya has dropped.
As the number of German tourists in Marmaris increased by 5 percent, compared to the first quarter of 2008, the number of British tourists increased by 17 percent.
Turkey Travel Agencies Association, or TURSAB, President Başaran Ulusoy expressed his hope for the future of tourism in Turkey. Agencies are trying to boost domestic tourism through early reservations, said Ulusoy, believing that they would catch, and even surpass, last year’s figures.
Ulusoy said the tourism sector helped Turkey’s integration with the world and opened horizons for the country.
"The tourism industry claims its role in the future of Turkey. As export figures drop and import figures rise, we are playing for the top three in the Mediterranean and top 10 in global destinations. We owe this to our country’s beautiful people and natural beauties. Turkey has everything. So I think we have a very bright future in Turkey," said Ulusoy.
Better service quality
The sector is doing well and they constantly seek better service quality, said Ulusoy. "Reasonable prices with ever increasing quality will place Turkey into the league if we manage the service quality as well."
The economic crisis has not seriously affected tourism, according to Ulusoy, who said people were likely to spend less on clothing during a crisis but would not change what they spent on food and travel.
Turkey’s tourism industry has survived so many economic crises and the last one did not originate in Turkey, Ulusoy said.
"Now we are trying to turn this crisis into an opportunity."
However, the number of foreign tourists flying to Antalya, another tourism center in Turkey, approached 500,000 in the first quarter of 2009 but remains below the figures of last year.
Antalya Culture and Tourism Center announced in a statement that the number of foreign tourists arriving in the city through Dalaman Airport stood at 235,843 and the total number of tourists in the first three months of 2009 was 489,631.
Officials said 314,811 foreign tourists visited Antalya last March and 624,297 visited in the first quarter of 2009.
The Province Culture and Tourism Director İbrahim Acar told the Anatolia news agency that the number of foreign tourists arriving in Antalya by plane has dropped due to the global economic crisis. But Antalya will manage to catch the target, said Acar.
Undesirable numbers
"We are hopeful for the upcoming seasons although the numbers from the first three months were undesirable. Turkey was a point of attraction in all international fairs, so expectations are high. Antalya still attracts people for its modern facilities, service quality, natural and historic beauties. And that is an advantage for the city. We will do better this season with the help of last minute reservations. I think we will catch the same occupancy rate of last year," said Acar.
In the meantime, preparations for the summer season in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions continue at full speed. The Kuşadası port, for instance, has just begun to serve giant cruisers. In March, 16 cruise ships anchored at the Aegean town of Kuşadası. On the first day of April, a total of 1,100 cruises visited Kuşadası.
The "Empress" of Malta carrying Spanish tourists to Turkey will have 16 trips to the Kuşadası port this year, said Tura Regional Tourism Director Ali Kuluyever. "The 2009 season will be quite busy for cruise ship tourism. Throughout the season, we, as Tura, will serve to 175 ships in Kuşadası," said Kuluyever.