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Turkish Daily News


Despite fears, springing from the bird flu, caricature crisis and the murder of a priest in Trabzon, that Turkish tourism could be hit hard this year, Aegean tour operators are looking at the coming summer season with hope. A general view expressed by those involved in tourism in the Aegean is: "Crises come and go. Turkey has dealt with bigger crises in the past. There is no reason to trumpet such disaster. We are hopeful for the new season.

We think we will see numbers like last year's in terms of tourists."

Officials in the tourism sector do acknowledge that while there have not been any cancellations, there has been a 20-30 percent slowdown in reservations. They have, however, issued warnings to hotel owners not to panic and reduce prices immediately.

One of those issuing warnings on the subject of unnecessary price reduction is Yavuz Onur of the İzmir branch of the Turkish Association of Travel Agents (TÜRSAB). Noting that TURSAB believes that Turkey will welcome at least as many tourists as it did last year as the weather warms up, Onur says: "Bird flu and the caricature crisis are not going to influence tourism. There is no reason for panic on these fronts. Turkey is a tourism center for tourists interested in the sea, sand and the sun. In the end, bird flu and the caricature crisis are actually matters for all European countries to deal with."

Speaking about the noted slowdown in reservations this year, Onur said "In past years, Turkey encountered much larger crises that hit at tourism much harder, things like the Gulf War, outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terror and earthquakes. But we have always surpassed the previous year's tourism figures. Turkey can succeed at this."

Speaking about the possibility that some hotel and resort owners might reduce their prices unnecessarily, Onur notes: "When we make big concessions, it takes years to get prices back to normal. The hotel owners should not make concessions. They need to find stable prices without switching immediately to big discounts. These incidents are temporary; there is no reason for panic. In many European countries there is no more poultry left. But this has never been reflected in the media. It has been kept secret. Turkey will transcend both of these subjects (also referring to the caricature crisis) this year."

We are hopeful about the coming season:
Çeşme Tourism Hotel Union head Veysi Öncel, noting that current reservation figures show a 20 percent drop when compared with last year, added: "We have not experienced many cancellations. But there is some worry about the low number of reservations being made. We want to be optimistic. Despite everything, we are hopeful about the season. We believe that the crises right now will pass quickly, and that tourism will come back to life." Öncel said there should be precautions taken to support tourism before it's too late.

Don't panic and lower prices:
Bodrum Hotel Foundation President Serdar Karcılıoğlu asserts that reservations this year are very low compared to the same time last year, and that this is having a negative influence on the sector. "Our biggest fear is that hotel and resort operators will panic and lower prices," says Karcılıoğlu. He notes that the Tourism Ministry is responsible for helping see Turkey through the current period without serious injury to its tourism sector, pointing to drops and postponements in taxation as being something the government must consider for tourism operators.

The truth will come out in June and July:
Fethiye Tourism Board Regional Director Caner Öper notes that, despite the fact that bird flu has now shown up in many European countries, the subject doesn't seem to be receiving much attention. "We have a big problem. While all the news got broadcast about the bird flu in our country, no one thought about the effect it would have on tourism."
Öper talked about how Turkey was full of facilities that matched European standards, but how this somehow was never adequately explained to foreign markets. "Perhaps this crisis will be completely forgotten in a few months but unfortunately it came right as catalogue sales were occurring.

These catalogue sales make up 50 percent of the seasonal sales. At this point, not even 5 percent of the expected sales have been made. But the truth will come out in June and July. Operators of hotels and resorts will have to rely on last minute sales to fill their hotels. At this point, the big tour operators have changed their marketing strategy and turned their focus onto Spain. The plans for the summer season are being made now.

As it is now, agents will not bring tourists in and hotels will not be filled. … In any case, despite all this, we look at the coming season with hope. The Tourism Ministry does, however, have to take some urgent precautions."
Turkish Hoteliers Federation Deputy President Haluk Nişlioğlu, for his part, points to reservation cancellations that are slowly starting to come in: "There have been cancellations from Germany, Denmark and Finland," he says.

Bookings from Netherlands and Ireland down:
Bulent İlbahar of Kuşadası's TÜRSAB branch notes that there has been a particular drop in reservations from tourists coming from Ireland and the Netherlands this year. Ilbahar also says that tour operators, giving the various "crises" as a reason, have already started to lower prices. "But the crises at hand are the same for all the countries.

We have conditions that equal those of European countries. It will be very important that we introduce Turkey to the rest of the world. We are not going to lower prices in Kuşadası. If the tourism season opens in two months, we will not lower prices. Lowering prices will not benefit facility owners, it will only result in loss," said İlbahar.