The tourism sector has recently been faced with a series of events. Kaan Kaşif Kavaloğlu, President of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers and Operators Association (AKTOB), stated that despite hotels reaching 90 percent occupancy, the expected influx of tourists has not occurred. Kavaloğlu said, “The bankruptcy of the FTI and the European Football Championship, which happened one after the other, prevented the expected increase in the number of tourists.” He stated that German tourists postponed their holiday plans during this period because the championship was held in Germany, and the figures for June confirmed this situation.
“The interest in Turkey comes especially from Turkish citizens living in Europe. They postponed their holidays to July both to support our country and because of their own work,” Kavaloğlu added. Stating that the occupancy rate in hotels exceeded 90 percent as of the second week of July, Kavaloğlu spoke with hope on behalf of the sector.
‘WE CAN OVERCOME CRISES WITH MINOR SCRAPES”
Kaan Kaşif Kavaloğlu, President of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers and Operators Association (AKTOB), evaluated the current developments to tourism writer Halil Öncü.Evaluating the developments in Antalya tourism, the recent problems in occupancy rates, the preference of Turkish guests for the Greek Islands and their thoughts on this issue, the concordat cases in hotels President Kavaloğlu made the following statements:
The tourism sector, together with all its stakeholders, is the lifeblood of our country, the smokeless industry!
“As tourism, we are talking about a locomotive sector that supports 54 sectors. The tourism sector, together with all its stakeholders, is the lifeblood of our country, the smokeless industry. Normally, with a tourist number approaching 60 million, and an income level approaching 60 billion dollars, we know very well how important it is for our country. Therefore, sometimes there are minor setbacks in this sense. Like the bankruptcy of Germany’s third largest tour operator FTI, which we experienced at the beginning of June. However, the public and private sectors can solve such crises well with solidarity. We manage to overcome them with minor scratches. After all, the state of war between Russia, one of our country’s most valuable markets, and Ukraine, our third market, is still ongoing. The Israeli-Palestinian tension continues in our south. Middle Eastern tourists are very valuable and very important for the tourism sector, especially in metropolitan cities. Therefore, along with the beauties that our geography brings to us, and its socio-economic contributions, of course, this geography also has some difficulties. We are trying to overcome these difficulties together. When we look at it in this sense, as the tourism season, The number of tourists coming to Antalya has exceeded 7.5 million people. There is a 12% increase compared to last year. But this is not enough for us, we are trying to pass 17 million with more confident steps and run towards 18 million.”
Where are these tourists?
“When you look at it one after another, we need to look at the bankruptcy of FTI and the European Football Championship. The European Football Championship took place in Germany, which is our main source market. People in Germany did not prefer to go on holiday during this period. The first figures for June also show this. Therefore, the most important and valuable issue for us is the Turks living in Europe. Their enthusiasm for a holiday in our country is very valuable to us. But they also supported our country there, and at the same time, they also had work to do there. “So it was the first week of July. As of the second week, our occupancy rates exceeded 90%.”
I especially invite those who want to have an island holiday to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus!
“I would like not to express my views on this issue as the Vice President of TÜROFED. Of course, people can have a holiday anywhere. The most important characteristic of our country is that it offers holiday opportunities everywhere according to everyone’s budget. We have hotel opportunities from the lowest budget to the most expensive budget in Bodrum. It is the same in the Aegean! We cannot determine where or in what city people will have a holiday. But of course, our Greek colleagues acted very smartly here and created an element of pressure on their own government. Because the Turkish tourism sector knows this. Holidaymakers who have holiday opportunities in Turkey are a very valuable resource for the islands and the Greek islands. It has always been like this. This is not the first time our Turkish guests have gone to the Greek islands, which have always been a preferred choice.Greece is beautiful, our country is beautiful. If we do good marketing and can keep it in our own country, we will try to be qualified. But I always say that. I especially invite those who want to have an island holiday to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.In this sense, it is my duty as the head of a civil society organization to act with more national feelings on this issue. But as I said, we cannot interfere with where anyone will vacation. We base our entire marketing methodology entirely on the beauties of our country. We base the beauties of this country on marketing. Greek tourism professionals could not provide good efficiency in terms of operations. Especially during the holiday season, our Turkish guests who went to the islands suffered a lot on the Greek islands. When we look at it from this perspective, it seems that this scenario did not work completely. Because this issue had emerged with the slowdown of Schengen visas with the Schengen application of the European Union member countries. But I cannot say that it has created a complete solution. In this sense, it is a challenge. Everyone is free to design the beauties of their own country, but they say no to turning this into a tabloid.”
It is disturbing that Bodrum is on the agenda regarding its high cost!
“Sometimes when we talk to the press, our press members know this best. They are responsible for conveying what we say. They do not have the opportunity to interpret what we convey. Therefore, when we talk to the press, we need to ensure that the information given to the press is accurate. Unfortunately, this information is not accurate. It is as if all these hotels that went bankrupt were in Bodrum, such a perception was created. This upset us and the mayor of Bodrum in particular. We spoke to him on the phone. He was very upset, in fact. Our mayor of Bodrum is very, very uncomfortable about Bodrum being on the agenda regarding its high prices.”
