Tourism authorities keep their hopes up
Güncelleme Tarihi:
BETÜL ÇAL
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 18, 2009 00:00
ANTALYA - Antalya, the world-renowned tourism destinations on the Turkish Riviera, has been unable to match 2008’s tourism figures for the first quarter of this year. However, figures have begun to climb again as of this month, much to the joy of tourism authorities.
While tourism revenue dropped 11.2 percent, the most dramatic downtrend observed was among the number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey, an integral part of regional tourism. According to data obtained from the Culture and Tourism Ministry, tourists visiting Turkey between January and March amounted to 2.8 million, a drop of 4.22 percent compared to the same term last year. Some 33,000 of these tourists were day-trippers, which weakened revenue.
The effect of the decrease tourist numbers was felt keenly in the first three months of this year, said officials from the Turkey Tourism Investors Association. While revenue from tourism amounted to $2.7 million in the first term of 2008, that figure dropped to $2.5 million this year, a drop of 11.2 percent. Visitors personal expenses accounted for most of that figure while the contribution from tours was slight.
In an interview with the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Bülent Büyükyiğit, regional manager of Belek Tourism Investors Association, stated his concerns, saying that the most dramatic decrease in figures was recorded in the number of Russian tourists.
Tunç Tuzcu, Corporate Communication and PR manager of Rixos Group, also agreed with Büyükyiğit that there was a serious decrease in Russian, Ukrainian and Georgian arrivals.
"Although people have enough funds, they act in a prudent way in times of crisis. European tourists, for example do not cancel their holidays abroad, however, they tend to shorten their holiday, which directly leads to a loss in total tourism revenue," Tuzcu said.
Sector enters a recovery period
Despite the negative figures for the first half of the year, neither Büyükyiğit nor Tuzcu was pessimistic about the second half of the season.
Büyükyiğit anticipated that booking rates would substantially increase in July, August and September. Moreover, June figures show that the sector has already entered a serious recovery period.
Tuzcu also said that the number of total tourists this year was not expected to fall much behind last year’s numbers. "Above all, tourism authorities are trying to do their best to revitalize the market. We are developing new marketing strategies. These will all definitely prove to be useful for the sector," he added. Büyükyiğit also recalled that circulation in the sector would continue after the peak season ends in September, as the golf season starts at the end of October.
İbrahim Acar, Provincial Culture and Tourism director is also optimistic. "Antalya has entered the peak tourism season with high morale. We expect that the number of tourists in June, July and August will not fall behind that of last year", Acar said.
Recalling that Turkey was especially favored for last minute bookings, Acar pointed out that European countries and Russia have a steady desire for holidays. Even if their countries have financial difficulties, people never cancel their holidays, he said.
The effect of the decrease tourist numbers was felt keenly in the first three months of this year, said officials from the Turkey Tourism Investors Association. While revenue from tourism amounted to $2.7 million in the first term of 2008, that figure dropped to $2.5 million this year, a drop of 11.2 percent. Visitors personal expenses accounted for most of that figure while the contribution from tours was slight.
In an interview with the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Bülent Büyükyiğit, regional manager of Belek Tourism Investors Association, stated his concerns, saying that the most dramatic decrease in figures was recorded in the number of Russian tourists.
Tunç Tuzcu, Corporate Communication and PR manager of Rixos Group, also agreed with Büyükyiğit that there was a serious decrease in Russian, Ukrainian and Georgian arrivals.
"Although people have enough funds, they act in a prudent way in times of crisis. European tourists, for example do not cancel their holidays abroad, however, they tend to shorten their holiday, which directly leads to a loss in total tourism revenue," Tuzcu said.
Sector enters a recovery period
Despite the negative figures for the first half of the year, neither Büyükyiğit nor Tuzcu was pessimistic about the second half of the season.
Büyükyiğit anticipated that booking rates would substantially increase in July, August and September. Moreover, June figures show that the sector has already entered a serious recovery period.
Tuzcu also said that the number of total tourists this year was not expected to fall much behind last year’s numbers. "Above all, tourism authorities are trying to do their best to revitalize the market. We are developing new marketing strategies. These will all definitely prove to be useful for the sector," he added. Büyükyiğit also recalled that circulation in the sector would continue after the peak season ends in September, as the golf season starts at the end of October.
İbrahim Acar, Provincial Culture and Tourism director is also optimistic. "Antalya has entered the peak tourism season with high morale. We expect that the number of tourists in June, July and August will not fall behind that of last year", Acar said.
Recalling that Turkey was especially favored for last minute bookings, Acar pointed out that European countries and Russia have a steady desire for holidays. Even if their countries have financial difficulties, people never cancel their holidays, he said.