Tourists are fleeing: high inflation and exorbitant prices have made Turkey an overly expensive holiday and travel destination. And the tone in Turkey recognized that a real crisis has already begun in tourism, and this is in the middle of the high summer tourist season. Tourism professionals are pessimistic, and tourists are dissatisfied, Turkish media write.
“Prices have soared, tourists are fleeing,” writes the Turkish newspaper turizmgunlugu. Rising prices for goods such as food, transport, accommodation and entertainment have made Turkey an expensive destination for tourists in recent years. This situation forces many tourists to choose more affordable alternatives instead of traveling to Turkey, as a result, all businesses operating in the tourism sector incur losses, and the circle closes. In addition, all this negatively affects the image of Turkey, especially given the storm of comments on social networks — including from the Turks themselves.
“The goals for 2024 are under threat: Turkey plans to attract 60 million tourists and generate $60 billion in tourism revenue by the end of 2024. However, high inflation and the perception of oneself as an “expensive country” make it difficult to achieve these goals. Tour operators do not expect their profitability to grow, and some businesses may even suffer losses,” the newspaper writes.
“It has become more expensive to go to Bodrum than abroad.” – for example, the Turks are outraged. “Shopkeepers in Bodrum don’t think about anything but robbing tourists. What a shame for this beautiful city”, “They shoot themselves in the foot, literally robbing tourists” – such comments from domestic tourists are also cited by the publication. As a result, we recall that many Turks travel en masse to other destinations — these are the Greek islands that are conditionally visa-free for them, as well as the Egyptian Sharm el Sheikh and the United Arab Emirates. Read the details here.
Hotel owners are also in a panic — the load has dropped to 60% – and this is at the peak of the season, in July. At the same time, they agree — low prices provided the May download. Discounts so far reach 15%. Read more in this article.
At the same time, Russian travel agencies are somewhat more optimistic about the situation. There is still no alternative to Turkey, they are sure. Turkey still accounts for a large share of sales — up to 46%, despite the fact that prices have soared — which travel agents admit. Read more here.
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