Turkish tourism not hit hard, foreign experts say
Güncelleme Tarihi:
SEDAT KİRT
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 09, 2009 00:00
MARMARIS - While Turkey is fighting the economic crisis in many industries, predictions of the survival of the tourism industry have become a reality, unlike in many eurozone resort countries
The Nordic Department of TUI, one of the world’s biggest tour operators, announced at a meeting for its partners and Marmaris hoteliers positive messages for Turkish tourism after their appreciation analysis for May.
According to the analysis of TUI Nordic, which is the leading tour operator between Scandinavia and Dalaman, the positive development was not only for May. The tour operator explained the booking demands seem to stay at good levels for the next few months. They explained that the analysis shows northern Europeans have started to prefer Turkey instead of Spain, Cyprus and Bulgaria, which are disadvantaged by being in the Euro zone.TUI Nordic is very positive about the Dalaman (Marmaris, Fethiye, Sarıgerme) region, which has shown good quality results during the last two years, although they predict losses for competitor countries will be around 20 percent. Product Manager Gorm Pedersen from TUI Nordic was hopeful for Turkey’s future. "This will help the destination in the difficult years to come. Quality leads into repeat business, which is the most important factor in the tourism industry," said Pedersen.
Beside the service and product quality, Pedersen was also satisfied about the variety of tourism in Turkey. "This year we will see a lot of Nordic tourists for the first time in Turkey. Some of them will be the tourists usually visiting Spain and Bulgaria for short visits on weekends. I think the main reason is ’value for money,’ but also the variety of products in Turkey. We have many different target groups. And this year the biggest target group, families, is decreasing due to the financial crisis and rising household expenses, etc. Therefore this year we will see fewer families, but more couples. And Turkey is successful because it has products for everyone," he said.
The accommodation partners of TUI confirm what the tour operators say. Dirk Rehorst, the manager of the Maritim Hotel Grand Azur, is extremely pleased with the current situation. "This year, we expected 20 percent fewer bookings before May. But, we had the best May in the last five-year period. Even June is going to be better than last year. The Russian market goes down, but the English market is growing because the pound is very weak, so they are looking for ’non-Euro’ holiday countries, such as Turkey and Egypt. And according to the statistics, the increase in the British market is around 25 percent," said Rehorst.
According to the analysis of TUI Nordic, which is the leading tour operator between Scandinavia and Dalaman, the positive development was not only for May. The tour operator explained the booking demands seem to stay at good levels for the next few months. They explained that the analysis shows northern Europeans have started to prefer Turkey instead of Spain, Cyprus and Bulgaria, which are disadvantaged by being in the Euro zone.TUI Nordic is very positive about the Dalaman (Marmaris, Fethiye, Sarıgerme) region, which has shown good quality results during the last two years, although they predict losses for competitor countries will be around 20 percent. Product Manager Gorm Pedersen from TUI Nordic was hopeful for Turkey’s future. "This will help the destination in the difficult years to come. Quality leads into repeat business, which is the most important factor in the tourism industry," said Pedersen.
Beside the service and product quality, Pedersen was also satisfied about the variety of tourism in Turkey. "This year we will see a lot of Nordic tourists for the first time in Turkey. Some of them will be the tourists usually visiting Spain and Bulgaria for short visits on weekends. I think the main reason is ’value for money,’ but also the variety of products in Turkey. We have many different target groups. And this year the biggest target group, families, is decreasing due to the financial crisis and rising household expenses, etc. Therefore this year we will see fewer families, but more couples. And Turkey is successful because it has products for everyone," he said.
The accommodation partners of TUI confirm what the tour operators say. Dirk Rehorst, the manager of the Maritim Hotel Grand Azur, is extremely pleased with the current situation. "This year, we expected 20 percent fewer bookings before May. But, we had the best May in the last five-year period. Even June is going to be better than last year. The Russian market goes down, but the English market is growing because the pound is very weak, so they are looking for ’non-Euro’ holiday countries, such as Turkey and Egypt. And according to the statistics, the increase in the British market is around 25 percent," said Rehorst.