The summer season on the Turkish coast is usually characterized by crowded beaches and a constant struggle for a place of sand. However, this year the situation has changed significantly. For the first time in many years, many vacant places appeared in Turkish hotels.
According to official statistics, tourism income in the second quarter of 2024 increased by 12%, and the number of tourists - by 15% compared to last year. But these figures can be somewhat deceptive, as the growth of the tourist sector of Turkey has slowed.
"For the first time in many years in July, a considerable number of vacancies have appeared in the hotel," says Mehmet Gem of Tukonfed, Confederation of Consumers of Tourist Services.
Hem claims that hotel filling is the percentage of hotel rooms at a certain point in time, reached 60%.
In Turkey, this figure is usually about 90-95% in the peak of the season in the summer.
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After the end of the koodic restrictions, the number of foreign tourists worldwide is increasing every year.
But the growth rate in Turkey was slower than other areas in the Mediterranean - foreign tourists, as it looks like, prefer cheaper alternatives.
In addition, hyperinflation in Turkey has led to the fact that locals cannot afford to go on vacation because prices have increased. The hotels started to book hotels.
The official inflation rate in Turkey is now 61.8%.
Nur Duman owns a hotel in Ceshma, a popular holiday site in the west of Turkey.
"I manage to fill the rooms only because of the closeness of the hotel to the sea," she says. "Other hotels, located further, have difficulty. We all had to reduce the prices for rooms, and the cost of electricity and other costs has increased."
Even the Turkish diaspora, living in Europe, which usually returns home on vacation, has decided not to go to Turkey, says NUR.
The influence of sports tourism
According to Turkish officials, large sports events in Europe this summer have also influenced that the increase in the number of tourists in Turkey has slowed.
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Germany accepted Euro 2024 from June 14 to July 14 and was waiting for more than 600,000 additional foreign tourists for the tournament.
Paris has accepted more than 11.2 million tourists in three weeks of the 2024 Olympics.
Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoi acknowledged that these events had a significant influence, and predicted that the growth of the number of tourists would slow down by September.
And then the number of people who come to Turkey will grow, he said.
"Data show that we can reach or even surpass our target of 60 million visitors by the end of the year, increasing it by 6%," the minister said.
The charm of the Greek islands
Erssoy said that the decision of Greece to weaken visa restrictions for Turkish citizens also played a role in the fact that the filling of hotels in several resort cities decreased.
Earlier this year, the Greek authorities introduced a visa-expression scheme that allows tourists from Turkey to receive visas after arriving on ten Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.
As a result, local interest in these areas has grown, and many social network users suggested that the Greek islands became cheaper than Turkey, despite the exchange rate.
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It is reported that the Turkish government tried to fight inflation by reducing the exchange rate.
"The growth of the exchange rate has become much lower than the rise in costs, and this has led to a rise in holiday prices, especially for housing," says Firuz Baglikai, the head of the Turist Tourist Association of Tursab.
Tarcan Aquiuz, the owner of the hotel and the chairman of the hotel owners platform in the historical center of Istanbul, agrees with that. He says that tourists who come mostly from the Balkan or Arab countries prefer Greece, not Turkey because they complain of high cost of textiles and food.
"We do not make money and be satisfied if we can just cover costs. Compared to last year, our expenses have tripled, and the income remained at the same level," he says.
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Many users on social networks share accounts from the Greek islands, and claim that they prove lower prices than Turkey.
One user X stated that he stopped on the Greek island of Lesbos for four nights at the price of one night in Ivikivika, a Turkish resort town on the other coast of the Aegean Sea.
"This is a luxurious place off the coast on the island of Chios," he commented on the published photo. "Prices are so low. Here is almost free of charge, compared to Turkey."
"Prices on Samos Island are twice as lower than in Bodrum prices [on the other seashore]," said one Turkish actor in an interview, "it's sad for our country."
According to tourism experts, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Dubai have also become more attractive to foreign tourists because of the rise in prices in Turkey.
Poor reputation
In addition to high prices, several reports of fraud in resort cities could also play a role in the decision of foreign travelers.
Last month, the establishment in Antalya caused a serious controversy after 1200 lires ($ 35) were pulled from the tourist for two glasses of pomegranate juice.
Through the intervention of local authorities, the tourist returned money.
The poor reputation caused by such actions, or, for example, a recent, albeit short -lived, ban on instagram, adds problems of the tourism industry, says Tarkan Akuz. It represents 400 hotels in the historical center of Istanbul.
"We used to predict our future. We are worried now," he says.
