Turkey Financial News » Tourism & Travel

Turkey posts 17.6 percent rise in tourist numbers in first quarter

meb — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 09:28:00 +0000

Some 2.1 million tourists visited Turkey in the first quarter of 2011, an increase over last year, the Turkish Hoteliers’ Federation, or TÜROFED, said last week, Anatolia news agency reported.

According to a TÜROFED tourism report, the first-quarter numbers for 2011 were 17.6 percent rise over last year’s figures of 1.8 million for the same period.

“The first-quarter figures indicate we can easily achieve our year-end target,” TÜROFED Chairman Ahmet Barut said at a press conference in Istanbul. Turkey received most of its tourists from Germany, Russia and Britain.

Russian tourist numbers to increase

Turkey is also expecting a 20 percent increase in Russian tourists after the beginning of a visa-free travel regime, Anatolia reported in a separate story.

“Turkey is expecting to receive more Russian tourists this year, an increase potentially as high as 20 percent with the onset of a new visa-free travel regime between the two countries,” said Cumhur Güven Taşbaşı, promotion director with the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

The visa liberalization agreement, which was signed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Ankara in May 2010, went into effect on April 16. Earlier this year, officials from the two countries signed a readmission agreement to move closer to the visa-free regime, which will allow 30 days of visa-free travel to the other country within a 90-day period.

Taşbaşı said Russia was one the most important markets for Turkey and the visa-free regime would also boost the number of Turkish tourists visiting Russia. Over 3 million Russians visited Turkey last year and the figure is expected to reach 4 million in 2011.
source: hurriyet daily news

Rixos to invest in Turkmenistan’s Avaza free trade zone

meb — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 07:23:21 +0000

Turkish businessman Fettah Tamince, the chairman of luxury hotel chain Rixos, was received by Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov on Friday and briefed the president on his company’s investment projects in Turkmenistan. Meeting with Berdimuhammedov at his office, Tamince explained the Rixos hotel chain’s planned investment projects in Turkmenistan’s Avaza tourism zone.

The Turkmen president expressed approval and called for more foreign investors to actively participate in the country-wide project.

Tamince also briefed the president on the investments and operations of the Rixos hotel chain both in Turkey and in numerous tourism zones throughout the world. He stated that his company is interested in investment opportunities in Turkmenistan and open to any cooperation with the Turkmen government. Noting that dozens of national and regional projects are being carried out in Turkmenistan, he said international investors saw the country as reliable in terms of cooperation.
source: Today’s Zaman

Tourist hubs see boost in residential sales following government tax incentive

meb — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:57:11 +0000

A reduction of the value-added tax (KDV) in the real estate sector, part of government’s efforts to fend off the ongoing global financial crisis, has led to an increase in the sale of residences in Turkey’s prominent tourism destinations.

After experiencing a 70 percent contraction in sales amid global financial turmoil, real estate agents in Alanya and Bodrum said sales had increased by 40 percent in just the last few weeks compared to the period prior to the KDV cut. Upon hearing of the tax break, parties interested in buying property here came from Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland.

Alanya Real Estate Agents Association (ALEKOD) President Kerim Balıktay said the KDV reduction was the perfect “medicine” for the ailing sector. Underlining that they expect to sell some 10,000 residences in the coming months, he said they hope to earn 1 billion euros from the sales.

Bodrum Real Estate Agents Union (BEMDER) President Ömer Yetgin said sales in Bodrum increased by 45 percent following the KDV reduction. “Our sales contracted by around 90 percent, but now there is great interest — especially among foreigners — in the purchase of residences. Some of our colleagues had no chance but to close their real estate agencies amid a terrible financial bottleneck; however, there is a serious recovery in the market, at least for the time being,” he said.

Noting that the lowered KDV had reinvigorated the sector, Fethiye Real Estate Agents Union President Nevzat Tilkici said the price of residences fell by 40 percent compared to previous years. He said they had seen a 50 percent increase in sales, particularly in Side, Datça and Çeşme.

Nevzat Ersoy, the head of contractor Ersoy İnşaat, said their customers predominantly come from Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. Tourists mainly choose residences by the seaside or with a view of the forest, he said.

Prices of residences in tourism hotspots

In Alanya, Antalya province’s famous tourist center, prices vary between 35,000 euros and 200,000 euros. In some of the most attractive parts of this famous district, a triplex villa with a view of the sea sells for 150,000-400,000 euros.

In Fethiye, know as the “pearl of the Aegean,” residences go for 30,000-100,000 euros, while prices in Bodrum, famous for its natural beauty, hover around 50,000-240,000 euros.
source: Today’s Zaman

Number of Russians visitors will not fall despite crisis

meb — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:44:20 +0000

Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertuğrul Günay said on Wednesday that despite the ongoing global financial crisis, he expected no change in the number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey in 2009 compared to last year.

Speaking at a press conference held at the Moscow International Travel & Tourism Exhibition (MITT), the minister said: “Relations between Turkey and Russia continue to grow in all fields. Tourism and cultural relations with Russia are developing in a positive direction.”

“Some 26.3 million tourists visited Turkey in 2008, and 2.8 million of them came from Russia. We plan to welcome more Russian tourists in the years to come,” he said. Noting that the government has allocated $10 million and the private sector $50 million to promote Turkey in Russia, Günay said they expected to make Turkey a destination for tourism 12 months a year. “We have projects to improve conference, golf, health, thermal and culture tourism in Turkey,” he added.

Turkey sees slight decline in vacation bookings from Russia

Hotel reservations from Russia to Turkey in January fell 20 percent compared to the same month in 2008, although Turkey had expected a decline of around 40 or 50 percent, a senior official from the Culture and Tourism Ministry said on Thursday.

Cumhur Güven Taşbaşı, the head of the ministry’s promotion department, said at the Moscow International Travel & Tourism Exhibition (MITT) that there had not been a sharp fall in bookings from Europe for this summer despite the economic recession.

“Our biggest concern was a nearly 100 percent devaluation in Russia and Ukraine that came with the global economic downturn. We had expected a 40 or 50 percent decline in reservations from Russia, but now we see it is around 20 percent,” Taşbaşı said, adding that they expected an increase in bookings in the coming weeks.
source: Today’s Zaman

TUI Türkiye pushes Turkish tourism sector forward

meb — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:12:11 +0000

TUI Türkiye, the Turkish branch of TUI Travel PLC, one of the world’s leading international leisure travel groups, is fostering interest in the Turkish tourism industry by improving the quality and enhancing the content of its services, which explains the ever-rising demand for the company’s services from customers worldwide, even during the prevailing uncertainty that is mostly attributed to the ongoing global financial crisis.

As indicated by a recent report on the global tourism industry, the Turkish tourism sector made it through 2008 — a tough year for all — in excellent condition and is expected to continue to be a focus of attention for those seeking the perfect vacation at a reasonable price. The ITB World Travel Trends report — the end product of fruitful discussions held at the World Travel Monitor Forum, an annual convention of global tourism industry authorities — indicated that only two European countries, Turkey and Bulgaria, succeeded in securing an increase of more than 10 percent in inbound travel during the first three quarters of last year. During the same time period, the tourism industries of most developed economies, not only in Europe but throughout the world, faced great difficulties, not to mention the pessimistic outlook of tourism specialists for the foreseeable future.

Analyzing Turkey’s competitiveness

The dynamics that are believed to have led to the above-mentioned discrepancy between Turkey and the developed economies of the world in terms of their attractiveness to tourists have been studied by tourism experts. Analyzing these dynamics, one would say there are both external and internal factors that have an impact on the overall picture.

Among the externals, price competitiveness is at the forefront — a situation created by the comparative increase in the value of currencies of the developed world vis-à-vis the Turkish lira. This explains the difference between Turkey and the countries in the eurozone. However, whereas the US seems to have escaped the downturn by means of low value exhibited by the dollar, Japan, on the other hand, has not succeeded in preserving its share of the industry and shares the fate of the rest of the developed world, despite the ever-low value of the yen, according to the ITB World Travel Trends report So, external factors are clearly not perfectly capable of explaining what is taking place.

Thus, evaluating the internal factors is essential in order to develop a stronger explanation here. Qualitative differences that favor the Turkish tourism industry have led travelers to rush to the country. The high quality of Turkish resorts was confirmed by a poll recently conducted by TUI Travel PLC. According to that survey, 17 hotels from Turkey were listed among world’s 100 best hotels by more than 30 million people who traveled with TUI last year. This is not a situation unique to 2008 because 13 Turkish hotels were on the same list the previous year, too. Keeping the high quality of Turkish hotels in mind, there is, however, one other factor on which customer satisfaction from a vacation depends: the services provided by tourism and travel agents. TUI Türkiye is ushering in brilliant days for the Turkish tourism industry through a multitude of high-quality services tailored to customers’ specific needs and requirements.

TUI Türkiye’s place in the industry

Speaking to Today’s Zaman in an interview at her office in İstanbul, TUI Türkiye Director for Business Development Çiğdem Dinç outlined the services they offer and explained the reasons behind the achievements of the company. “Here at TUI Türkiye, we provide our customers a wide array of top-quality services while improving our vision for better services in the future, in order not to step back from the extent we already reached.”

Europe’s biggest travel firm, TUI Travel PLC was created by a merger of German TUI AG and British First Choice Holidays PLC in 2007, and the company’s shares began to be traded on the London Stock Exchange the same year. Currently, the international leisure group operates in over 180 countries, comprising nearly 150 brands and more than 3,300 travel agencies. It served more than 30 million customers last year. TUI Türkiye, accredited by the Turkish Association of Travel Agents (TÜRSAB) under the name Tan Tur and by several international travel associations, including the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the United Federation of Travel Agents’ Associations (UFTAA), is the Turkish branch of the group.

Considered among the most successful Turkish travel agencies, Tan Tur now has over 30 years of experience operating in the tourism industry. The company is owned by TUI and has also been known as TUI Türkiye since 2000.

“We host customers coming from every corner of the world every year, mainly from Germany, followed by other European countries. Last year, for example, we brought more than 1 million tourists to Turkey, which is our primary destination before Greece and Egypt,” said Dinç, discussing how the company fared in 2008.

Tan Tur-TUI Türkiye now provides a multitude of services in addition to travel to Turkey. Business and leisure-oriented travel solutions, event management for all kinds of meetings, including incentives, conferences and sports activities, travel insurance, plane tickets, rental car services and cruises are among the most popular on the long list of services offered by the company.

Event management deserves particular attention since it is handled quite differently by the company’s specialized team. They not only take care of all the details regarding the event’s logistical needs so that the planned program will not suffer from any kind of obstacle and will benefit from the available resources, the event management team also helps determine the concept of that particular meeting and arranges all the details, down to the wall color of the venue, which normally fall low on the list of priorities, if not completely ignored by organizers.

“We believe that every meeting, be it an academic congress or a business convention, has a color. We first help clarify that color and move on accordingly to guarantee the desired outcome,” said Dinç. She added that they place great value on ensuring that such meetings continue to be held in times of crisis, since during such periods businesses normally seek to minimize their costs and cancel their meeting plans, which she believes further exacerbates the problems of the already stalled market. ”We therefore pay attention to the cost side and are trying to organize those meetings with the minimal expenses possible,” she underlined. It is possible to organize tailored meetings in many countries of Europe, Africa, Central America and the Middle East while taking advantage of the experience and specific vision of TUI Türkiye.

The company also serves those residing in Turkey who would like to spend their holidays abroad through its offices in İstanbul and in the southern, southwestern and western regions of Turkey, including locations in Antalya, Belek, Kemer, Side, Alanya, Kuşadası, Bodrum, Marmaris and Fethiye, as well as through the Internet.

With its slogan ”Memories to keep,” TUI Türkiye-Tan Tur seems capable of overcoming the difficulties posed by the ongoing global financial crisis and continues to push the Turkish tourism industry forward.
Source: Today’s Zaman

Turkish tourism in spotlight as co-host of ITB fair

meb — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 04:24:09 +0000

The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism is attending the world’s largest travel and trade fair, the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) Berlin, which begins today.

With the slogan “The perfect holiday starts here,” the fair offers an excellent opportunity for travel industry representatives to come together. With 11,147 exhibitors, comprising 8,540 foreign and 2,607 German parties, ITB Berlin 2009 is being held on 160,000 square meters of floor space at the Messe Berlin fairgrounds. Almost 180,000 visitors have already registered to attend the fair, which runs through March 15. In order to make the fair as convenient as possible for visitors, organizers have arranged market segments thematically so visitors will have no problem finding their way within the enormous fair space. Market segments that are expected to be particularly popular include among others culture tourism, travel technology, health tourism and cruises.

With participants coming from developed, developing and underdeveloped countries, this year’s fair rivals the United Nations with its range of exhibitors, who have traveled to Berlin from 180 countries. What began as a very modest overseas-import trade show in 1966 is now the world’s leading gathering of its kind. With a huge number of exhibitors and visitors, the German capital’s travel fair draws the attention of professionals from all sectors within the tourism and travel industry worldwide. Despite the adverse effects of the ongoing global financial crisis and the resulting drop in demand in every sector, a diverse array of businesses, including but not limited to, tour operators, booking engines, airlines, hotels and car rental companies, will all try to market their services to fair attendees.

This year’s fair is expected to host more fierce competition among exhibitors as a result of the crisis, which has severely hit the tourism industry worldwide.

“[Today], companies’ power of resilience will be on the table, not the services they provide or their plans for expansion. Turkey is ahead of those coming to Berlin with hope this year because she is the only country that managed to maintain 2007 figures last year. Turkey is the country in which countless European tour operators and airline companies as well as more than 50,000 travel agencies in 40 countries invest their hopes,” said Hüseyin Baraner, the head of the European-Turkish Tourism Council.

US President Barack Obama’s announced visit to Turkey is expected to boost demand in the Turkish tourism industry. Expressing satisfaction about Obama’s decision to travel to Turkey so early in his presidency, Baraner said the president’s decision has had a stimulating effect on Turkish exhibitors who are attending the fair. ”We particularly expect this decision to revive travel to İstanbul and Cappadocia,” he added.

Turkey is the co-host of the event this year as part of an initiative taken by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Turkey’s stand will cover an area of 2,558 square meters, and its promotions this year will be based on regional presentations.
source: Today’s Zaman

Turkey may see silver lining in strong euro, FT says

meb — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:17:15 +0000

The lira’s depreciation against the euro and the dollar will bring about positive results for tens of thousands of Turks who rely on tourism for their livelihood, the British economy daily Financial Times claimed yesterday.

Noting that the lira has fallen by about one-third against the dollar and nearly a fifth against the euro, the daily reported that this situation is creating a reason for Europeans to choose Turkey as their holiday destination, since foreign visitors will now be able to enjoy the same service with much less expense in Turkey.

The daily cited Ahmet Barut, chairman of the Turkish Hoteliers’ Federation (TÜROFED), who said being out of the eurozone has become an advantage for Turkish businesses, specifically tourism operators.

Despite these high expectations, however, bookings for Turkey’s tourism resorts have fallen this year. The latest figures from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism indicate that the number of foreign visitors entering Turkey in January dropped nearly 4 percent over the same month last year. Reservations for the summer are also hovering at lower levels compared to previous years. However, the daily predicted, citing analysts and officials, that visitor numbers will grow.

The FT report mentioned Turkey’s increase in the ranks of the favorite destination lists of British tourists, whose spending power with the pound has dramatically fallen in Europe and noted that the booking records of Britain-based tour operators TUI Travel and Thomas Cook both show rising demand for Turkey. Ian Derbyshire, chief executive of Thomas Cook, told FT that UK bookings for Turkey for this summer had jumped 25 percent over last summer, compared with a drop of 10 percent as a whole. He said Turkey was now enjoying the benefits of a strategy of “using its lower land and labor prices to develop big four- and five-star hotels offering all-inclusive holidays.”
source: Today’s Zaman

THY launching Eskişehir-Brussels route

meb — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:38:47 +0000

Turkish Airlines (THY), Turkey’s national air carrier, will initiate flights between the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir and the Belgian capital of Brussels, Turkey’s Civil Aviation Directorate said on Tuesday.

Flights will begin between the two cities on March 2. THY will fly from Eskişehir to Brussels on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and from Brussels to Eskişehir on Mondays and Fridays. Europe’s seventh largest airline in terms of passenger numbers, THY was recently ranked third among Europe’s quickest growing airlines with an outstanding performance in 2008.
source: Today’s Zaman

Syria sees Turkey as a natural partner

meb — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 06:51:37 +0000

Relying on their common history that spans thousands of years, Syria and Turkey look forward to increased cooperation. Speaking to Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Syria’s tourism minister says Damascus sees Ankara as a natural partner for establishing peace and increasing wealth in the region

Tourism may create a bridge to a common Middle Eastern understanding through increasing interaction between Middle East societies, according to a top Syrian official who said Turkey-Syria relations could be important for the region’s future.

Syria’s Tourism Minister Saadalla Agha al-Kalaa, speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on the sidelines of the 13th East Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Fair, or EMITT, in Istanbul last week, said enhancing bilateral relations should be considered to enhance the welfare of the Middle East.

“The region needs peace and that peace should be comprehensive and sustainable,” said al-Kalaa. “Peace cannot be implemented on one side only. There is a lot to be done. In order to establish peace, regions should act in harmony.”

Syria remains technically at war with Israel since the latter occupied the Golan Heights in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Syria’s relations with Turkey have been cloudy at best since 1998 due to historical border issues and disputes over how the Euphrates and Tigris’s waters should to be shared.

Relations improved rapidly after the Syrian government expelled Abdullah Öcalan, chief of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in 1998, acting upon increased pressure from Turkey. The improvement has manifested itself best in trade and economic relations.

“There is a new common future before Turkey and Syria,” al-Kalaa said. “The countries can compliment each other. The common history and common knowledge of the two neighbors are encouraging factors to enhance economic, social and cultural relations and these improvements would be the main carrier for peace.”

Achieving peace and stability:
Al-Kalaa visited EMITT as part of Syria being the “first guest country” at the fair. His optimism on bilateral relations stemmed from the rapidly increasing trade volume and social interaction between the two neighbors over the past six years.

The minister recalled that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made a landmark visit to Turkey in 2004, after various steps to bring the two countries closer.
“This visit can be considered a milestone in bilateral relations, as well as a new opening for a successful common future oriented toward achieving peace and stability in the Middle East,” he told Daily News.

Speaking on the economic performance that the two countries displayed between 2002 and 2008, al-Kalaa said al-Assad’s visit contributed to the acceleration of business relations.

“The business volume between Turkey and Syria has doubled almost every year since 2002,” said al-Kalaa. “While the aggregate business volume stood at $200 million in 2002, it reached $1.8 billion last year. This is a success story and we are looking forward to sustaining this bright performance in the future.”

Growth expectations:
“For the next five years, our goal is to increase bilateral business volume by 20 percent every year and render it sustainable,” al-Kalaa said. “Syria-Turkey relations display a promising picture in every area. The number of tourists visiting Syria from Turkey and vice versa increased five-fold last year. All the indicators show that this boost in tourism volume will continue.”

“Moreover, we should promote Turkey and Syria as common tourist destinations. There is ongoing work on this issue. For example, package visits, involving both Turkey and Syria, can be marketed to foreign tourists,” al-Kalaa said. “While only a couple of years ago, the number of flights between the two countries were only once or twice a week, now it is twice a day. This is another positive indicator. We should be looking forward to increasing this figure even more.”

From family visits to tourism:
Speaking on the development of Syria’s tourism sector, al-Kalaa said tourism income constitutes 14.5 percent of Syria’s Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, and this income is growing 15 percent every year.

“Until six years ago, visits from Turkey to Syria and vice versa were limited to family visits for those that live on the Turkey-Syria border. But it is important to increase the number of tourists,” he said. “Turkey and Syria are located in a very sensitive region; therefore, the ties between the two countries should be strengthened. Through multi-directional and sophisticated policies, Turkey and Syria can attain considerable growth,” said al-Kalaa.
source: Hurriyet daily news

Conference tourism suffers in Turkey

meb — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:53:46 +0000

Conference tourism has also been hit by the global turmoil, says Talha Çamaş, who has much experience in the sector. The attendance to the next few conferences, including the International Monetary Fund and the Fifth World Water Forum meetings, is expected to drop, he says.

Conference tourism suffers in Turkey The global crisis is shaping the travel preferences of tourists, according to a prominent figure in conference tourism in Istanbul, who says the situation is also affecting the activity of international conferences.

The crisis has started affecting the attendance of conferences, Talha Çamaş said. Çamaş has been involved in the management of over 600 national and international conferences, symposiums and meetings, including the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, or Habitat II, the meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit and Eurovision. Visitur Seyahat, which he founded together with his wife, İlknur Çamaş, is currently arranging the meeting of the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, this year.

The Fifth World Water Forum to be held March 16-22 is feeling the effects of the crisis, and it is proving difficult to reach the target of 20,000 visitors, Çamaş said.

The target audience for the IMF meeting to take place Sept. 29 will not be reached, he said. “I am not sure how many of the official participants will be affected, however, it is private sector participants that will actually be influenced. Prominent figures from the finance sector, such as insurance firms and bankers, normally attend these meetings. However, we expect a decline due to the closures and mergers in the sector. I do not envisage [the participation] to reach 12,000 people, but it will not be below 6,000, either.”

Despite a decline in participants, Çamaş said he did not expect a drop in the number of conferences held. “The crisis has also created an advantage,” he said. “If the academic world becomes a little aggressive, some conferences that have been delayed in Europe due to high costs may be attracted to Turkey. Attendance may increase if we draw these through promotions.”

Though Çamaş suggested Turkey’s tourism volume was growing. “According to the data of the World Tourism Organization, Turkey ranks among the top 10 and gets a share of around $20 billion from a market worth $1 trillion,” he said.

It is mass tourism that first comes to mind when talking about tourism and a substantial proportion of investment are made in that field, he said. “However, it is crucial to have a well-rounded prospect about tourism. Not only external tourism but also domestic tourism is important now. Turkish people do now have holiday habits. An indispensable potential has occurred here and the quality has increased.”

Regarding the impacts of the global crisis, he said: “There is not currently a great desperation in the sector. However, everyone is inclined to take precautions early.”

Advantage
Still, Turkey has an advantage. “It is expected that particularly in European countries the holiday habits will shift to more economical regions,” Çamaş explained. “Moreover, as surveys reveal, it was holidays that people first gave up during the periods of crises. However, the situation has changed now, and Europeans deem traveling as a part of life. They do not give up holidays, but look for cheaper [destinations]. Here emerges Turkey’s advantage. Turkey is of better quality compared the Mediterranean, namely Egypt and Tunisia.”

Turkey is more expensive than those countries, but Europeans give importance to quality as much as to price, he said.

“Turkey has taken important steps regarding this issue. Staff quality has increased. Most importantly, the all-inclusive system, which we have always criticized, will be of use for the first time, as families with children now demand to know exactly how much a holiday will cost. Many countries want to implement this system; however, Turkey’s hotels know the business well as the country started earlier.”

Commenting on his impressions concerning tourism expos in some countries, such as the Netherlands and Germany, he said, “The interest in Turkey is a little greater compared to other countries; however, overall, there is a decline in reservation demands.”

Çamaş also said tourism operators should be provided with some incentives. Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay has announced preparations for a tourism package, he said. “However, the package interests not only the Tourism Ministry, but also the Finance Ministry. The requests of the sector are eligible.”

In today’s circumstances, tourism is an industry that can bring activity more swiftly compared to exports in terms of employment and yields, Çamaş said, adding, “Exports are on the decline, and it is hard to revive them. Turkey may not make decisions easily in some issues in terms of budget management, but I believe the contribution from the industry with proper prospects will impact on the economy more rapidly.”

The package should be announced urgently, he also said. “It is claimed that Europe has not yet felt the full impact of the crisis. If Europe starts to fell the impact more, nobody knows what will happen. Europeans may prefer taking vacation in their own countries.”

Upon a question on the tourism boom in Istanbul in the recent years, and whether the crisis had hit the city, he said: “Istanbul has become one of the top 10 attractive cities. The number of tourists has climbed from 2 million to 5.5-6 million. However, the lowest season is being experienced at present, and the prices are very low.

Unlike the same period of last year, domestic market does not see much activity this year. Company meetings and dinners have almost stopped.

“The necessary measures concerning mass tourism should be taken urgently in order not to face noteworthy losses, Çamaş said. “Tour operators choose destinations till the midst of February and March. We should hurry up.”
source: Hurriyet daily news

Istanbul Atatürk Airport records highest increase in flights

meb — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:46:16 +0000

İstanbul Atatürk Airport saw the highest increase in air traffic in Europe in 2008, according to a recent report prepared by Eurocontrol, the European organization for the safety of air navigation. Becoming the 10th busiest airport in Europe, air traffic at the İstanbul airport increased by 5 percent in 2008 over the previous year.

“İstanbul Atatürk Airport is also scheduled to grow rapidly over the coming years. The combination of this growth and the continuing strength of growth trends in Turkey, in particular the growth of tourism, mean that around 2010, Istanbul will join the limited number of airports where capacity is restricting growth,” the report stated.

On the other hand, there was a 5 percent decline in air traffic of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, currently the busiest airport in Europe. Frankfurt and London Heathrow, the second and third busiest airports, respectively, saw a 3 percent decline in air traffic in 2008 over 2007. On the list of busiest flight routes in Europe, İstanbul-İzmir ranked ninth in 2008.
source: Today’s Zaman

Antalya retains popularity among German & Russian

meb — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:00:58 +0000

Germans and Russians were the largest groups of foreign tourists choosing Antalya as a vacation destination in 2008, officials from the Antalya Culture and Tourism Department said on Monday.
Officials said a total of 9.9 million tourists, including Turkish expats, visited Antalya in 2008. Germans topped the list of foreigners who vacationed in Antalya, they added.

Around 2.3 million Germans visited Antalya last year. The number of German tourists visiting the city was up 4.56 percent in 2008 over 2007. According to officials, the number of Russian tourists visiting Antalya in 2008 was up 20.10 percent over 2007, reaching 2.1 million.

Ukrainians ranked third among foreign tourists visiting Antalya. The number of Ukrainians visiting the city was up 39.26 percent over 2007, hitting 462,978 in 2008.

The numbers of Iranian, Spanish, Belarusian, Romanian and Norwegian tourists traveling to Antalya were also up in 2008.

Tourism officials said they also expected the number of German tourists spending vacations in Turkey to increase this year and expressed their belief that the ongoing global economic crisis would be an opportunity for Turkey.

Middle-class Europeans, who used to spend their vacations in the United States, Canada, Spain, Greece or countries in the Far East, will travel Turkey in 2009, looking for economical, high-quality vacation facilities, officials predicted, underlining that the negative effects of the financial crisis would urge people in Europe to decrease their expenditures.
source: Today’s Zaman