Tourism chiefs in Turkey are sounding the alarm over a significant drop in holidaymakers, with fingers being pointed squarely at Greece for luring away visitors. An emergency meeting has been convened to address the dwindling numbers and strategise on winning back tourists.
As visitor figures take a nosedive, Turkish tourism authorities have expressed their unease, directly accusing Greece of snatching away European Union travellers as Turkey sees a slump in its summer 2024 tourist season.
Murat Yavuz, a retired Turkish banker who often travels to Greece, commented on the situation: “There’s a huge difference between the service and product quality, as well as prices here and there.” He went on to claim that Turkish restaurants “have used inflation as a pretext to push up prices”.
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In June, restaurant and hotel costs surged by an average of 91 percent compared to the previous year, outpacing the staggering general inflation rate of 71.6 percent. Kivanc Meric from the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies spoke to Euronews, lamenting the loss of Turkey’s competitive pricing due to what he calls the “over-valuation” of the Turkish lira.
Meric anticipates a surge in Turkish visitors to the Greek island of Samos, expecting up to 150,000 this year, a significant increase from the 40,000 in 2023. Kaplan Ilhan, a 57-year-old chef at a seafood eatery in Kusadasi, revealed that his business has seen a roughly 25 percent downturn from the previous season, reports Birmingham Live.
“The cost of living is a factor, but rumours on social media about Greece being cheaper also play a big role,” he said. “With interest rates at 50 percent and inflation above 70 percent, people are in shock,” stated Baris Tansever, founder of the upscale Sunset Grill and Bar in Istanbul, who revealed that business has dropped by around a quarter compared to last year.
The Turkish press reports that “many” holiday resorts are now facing difficulties, “especially Bodrum, Cesme and Datca”, which are described as being “much quieter” than anticipated.
Mustafa Demir, the Chairman of the TURSAB Regional Representation Board, told the Express: “Since fixed costs, such as electricity, personnel and hotel rents, are fixed, while other food, beverage and cleaning costs are variable, our hotelier colleagues made their calculations and made discounts so that at least the rooms would not remain empty, they could pay the staff and not lay them off.”