At best, you can count on the return of Russian tourists in June, while the tourist flow will suffer a significant decline, and whether Turkish hotels will be able to compensate for the loss in Russian tourists, which amounted to a quarter of the load of resorts, is a big question. This opinion was presented on the pages of the Turkish media by Bunyamin Vural, Sales and Marketing Director of Aska Hotels, which serves 4 hotels in Antalya – Aska Lara Resort, Aska Grand Prestige Hotel, Aska Just In Beach and Aska Bayview Resort.
“At the moment, the flow of bookings from Russia and Ukraine is naturally blocked. The Russians cannot fly in because there are no planes. In addition, devaluation and money transfer problems resulting from the sanctions are also blocking possible bookings. Solving this problem in the short term is not easy,” said the Turkish hotelier.
He added that tour operators, apparently supplying tourists from Russia, assure that the tourist flow will begin at best in June, and then only if the special operation and the geopolitical crisis caused by it does not worsen. “But even if the tourist flow from Russia starts in June, we think that it will be much lower than in June. last year,” adds the Turkish hotelier. Even if the special operation ends and the situation with the “air sanctions” is somehow resolved, such factors as rising world oil prices and a decrease in the purchasing power of Russian citizens will remain.
At the same time, the European market is unlikely to compensate for the loss, Mr. Vural adds. According to him, last year “one of the two tourists who landed in Antalya was Russian or Ukrainian.” “Last year, the number of tourists who came to Turkey from Russia and Ukraine approached 7 million. For understanding, only 3 million came from Germany. So, in order for us to compensate the Russian market at the expense of Europeans, we need almost 10 million Germans, which is impossible. At the same time, early from Germany went well until January, but as of February there was also a decrease in bookings,” he states.
To sweeten the pill, he recalls that Germany is not united – tourists come from other European countries, the Balkan countries and other regions, and there is also its own domestic market. However, in general, the proportions, in his words, are as follows: “Our four hotels in Antalya receive 25% from British, 25% from German, 25% from Russian and 25% from other markets.” How to compensate for about a quarter of the load remains a question.
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