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Turkey tourism hits rock bottom

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T

Tak3n

Banned
shame to see a country go through this, looks like the terrorism threat is a major cause

"My family has had 40 years in tourism and I've never seen it like this", he says. "We've hit rock bottom - I don't want to think what will happen if it gets worse."
And then what, I ask?
"It could mean the whole tourism sector could virtually end here," he says. "And that means minus $28bn."
Click to expand...

The group of British tourists playing water polo in the pool could shriek as loudly as they liked: there were virtually no other guests they'd disturb.
The four-star Garden Resort Bergamot Hotel in Kemer, just outside Antalya, should be 70% full at this time of year. But just 25 of the 233 rooms are taken.
"We've had to reduce our staff from 80 to 50 and prices have dropped by a third," says Suha Sen, the owner.
"If it goes on like this next year, we may have to close."
Around the pool, the few guests soaking up the sun say they clinched bargains.
"We paid just over £500 (€630) for two of us for a week, an all-inclusive package," says Diane Roberts from North Wales. "Most of the cheap deals now are for Turkey - we didn't expect it, but people are too afraid to come here."
It is a picture repeated across Antalya and throughout the country: Turkish tourism is in crisis. A country that welcomed 37 million visitors in 2014 - then the sixth most popular tourist destination in the world - is expected to see a drop of at least 40% this year.
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The main decline is the Russian market, the four-and-a-half million Russian tourists who were coming have fallen in number by around 95%. The trigger was Turkey shooting down a Russian military jet which violated Turkish airspace last November, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
The Kremlin seethed, barring Russian tour companies from selling package deals to Turkey. President Vladimir Putin told Russians to holiday elsewhere.
The two strongmen leaders - Mr Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan - are still at loggerheads, although Mr Erdogan did send a note to his counterpart this week to mark Russia's national day, in the hope of healing wounds.
What's more, a series of bombings across Turkey in the past year has scared off many others. Since violence resumed with the PKK Kurdish militants last summer, attacks by them and by the Islamic State group have occurred nationwide, some targeting tourists in Istanbul.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36549880
 
C

Carcetti

Member
Boycotting dictatorship is as good as reason not to go as fearing terrorism, so I expect the numbers won't rise too fast.
 
A

azyless

Member
Tak3n said:
shame to see a country go through this, looks like the terrorism threat is a major cause
Click to expand...
I'm sure Erdogan's policies don't help either. I don't know anyone who particularly wants to go to Turkey now, and that includes people who've been before and had a fantastic time.
 
K

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
It's sad for the business owners and the employees in this industry. Unfortunately this is what electing people based on emotion rather than rationale generates.
 
kittoo

kittoo

Cretinously credulous
Was it worth shooting the Russian plane? Given that it has hurt them in billions of dollars, probably not.
Erdogan, what are you doing to Turkey?
 
B

Bel Marduk

Banned
That's really a shame because Turkey has a fascinating history and culture... but I wouldn't visit it until Erdoğan is gone.
 
Dee Dah Dave

Dee Dah Dave

Member
My mrs' dad owns several businesses in Istanbul and they are feeling it. Although not as bad as the more coastal holiday resorts. We are possibly looking to retire in Turkey in the next 10 years or so and I hope things vastly improve by then.
 
M

mangochutney

Member
Yeah the amount of discounting going on for holidays to Turkey, and also the sheer amount available, right now is incredible.

If you want to be defiant then you can pick up some serious bargain trips.
 
Moff

Moff

Member
why does the text imply it's because of fear of terrorism when the reason for the "main decline" is turkeys shooting down the russian jet.
sure, terrorism is a reason as well but we just discussed this in the office today that we sure as hell won't support a country with our money that elects erdogan as leader.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
This is the warning on the US State Department's site:

Effective March 29, 2016, the Department of State ordered the departure of family members of U.S. government personnel posted to U.S. Consulate in Adana and family members of U.S. government civilians in Izmir and Mugla provinces, and restricted official travel to Turkey to “mission-critical” travel only. U.S. Consulate in Adana remains open and will provide all routine consular services. This Travel Warning replaces the Travel Warning dated March 17, 2016.

Foreign and U.S. tourists have been explicitly targeted by international and indigenous terrorist organizations. U.S. citizens are reminded to review personal security plans and remain vigilant at all times. U.S. government personnel in Turkey remain subject to travel restrictions in southeastern provinces of Hatay, Kilis, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Sirnak, Diyarbakir, Van, Siirt, Mus, Mardin, Batman, Bingol, Tunceli, Hakkari, Bitlis, and Elazig. U.S. citizens should avoid areas in close proximity to the Syrian border.

For your safety:

Avoid travel to southeastern Turkey, particularly near the Syrian border.
Stay away from large crowds, including at popular tourist destinations.
Exercise heightened vigilance and caution when visiting public access areas, especially those heavily frequented by tourists.
Stay away from political gatherings and rallies.
Follow the instructions of local authorities in an emergency.
Monitor local media.
Stay at hotels with identifiable security measures in place.
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https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings/turkey-travel-warning.html

My wife was supposed to have a work trip there this summer but it was cancelled.
 
C

ClosingADoor

Member
Moff said:
why does the text imply it's because of fear of terrorism when the reason for the "main decline" is turkeys shooting down the russian jet.
sure, terrorism is a reason as well but we just discussed this in the office today that we sure as hell won't support a country with our money that elects erdogan as leader.
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Because the 40% drop would mean a drop of 14.8 million people. Russia's drop is 4.5 million visitors. So they are the single biggest country dropping, but not the biggest total reason.
 
V

vaderise

Member
I live in Antalya which is the most touristic city in Turkey where there are touristic attractions such as ancient Greek temples,theatres and beautiful beaches etc.
Here's a pic of Antalya city centre:
antalya.jpg
Until this year city crammed with tourists from all over the European countries and Russia.This year there are NONE. I very rarely see any tourists even in most popular hotels.Such a shame, i hope we'll get through this. And yeah, i blame Erdogan government.
 
Z

Zaph

Member
Two of my friends (one black, the other brown) won't go back to Turkey for genuine fear of being put on a secret watch-list/no-fly list; which could seriously harm their career as they have to take a lot of business trips (often to the US).

I have no desire to visit Turkey, but as a brown person, yeah I don't think I'd take that risk either.
 
M

May16

Member
I have to admit, I didn't even take a connecting flight option there. Alternate route was slightly longer, but I went right around that business. :/

(Went from East Asia to Europe.)
 
E

EGM1966

Member
Zaph said:
Two of my friends (one black, the other brown) won't go back to Turkey for genuine fear of being put on a secret watch-list/no-fly list; which could seriously harm their career as they have to take a lot of business trips (often to the US).

I have no desire to visit Turkey, but as a brown person, yeah I don't think I'd take that risk either.
Click to expand...
Shame as lovely place. But current regime coupled with the spat with Russia and rise in attacks are clearly behind this.

Those need resolved for things to truly get back on track.
 
Acidote

Acidote

Member
By brother and my sister in law went there a few years ago, so I considered it as a travel destination for my next holidays. Not anymore.
 
P

PsychoSoldier

Banned
I would love to go to Turkey one day but I have a hard time wanting to spend that kind of money to support a country with a president like Erdogan. Obviously the attacks would factor is as well.
 
L

Liseda

Member
My sister was there last year.

There was a violent demonstration during her visit and she got tear-gassed while sitting in a restaurant and a mob running around trashing stuff.

I'm pretty sure she will never travel to Turkey again.
 
H

hohoXD123

Member
For the people who aren't visiting Turkey because of Erdogan, you're hurting the small tourist businesses who may not have even voted for the guy rather than Erdogan himself. He has basically turned Turkey into a dictatorship, the tourism industry going to shit won't change that.
 
C

Cub3h

Banned
Who would have thought that antagonising one of the (or -the-) biggest sources of your tourists by shooting down their planes and lynching a pilot would be a good idea?

Who would have thought that deliberately not securing your border with a war-torn country full of various extremist groups could lead to Westerners feeling unsafe at your beaches?

Who would have thought that continuously oppressing the Kurds could cause some of them to flock to extremist groups? This is the same argument they themselves use after Israel gets attacked by terrorists.

I've been to Turkey twice and really enjoyed both Istanbul as well as their touristy beaches on the Mediterranean coast, but I will not go back until Turkey reverses its course and stops slowly descending into another failed Islamic theocracy. Go to Spain, Portugal, Southern Italy, Greece, all wonderful countries with plenty of sun that could use our tourism money.
 
P

Pai Pai Master

Banned
We say stuff like we won't let the terrorists win and such, but devastating attacks in places like Turkey and Egypt are sreall affecting people's sense of security about going to see other parts of the world. Among other things of course, Turkey is in a very complicated situation these days aside from just terror attacks.

And that's really sad, everyone should be able to broaden their horizons without fearing for their lives.
 
D

Doomshroom

Member
Me and my wife was planing a trip to Turkey. Looking at destinations and hotels and stuff but we put that on hold. Guess ill go to Japan again insted.
 
1

17 Seconds

Banned
hohoXD123 said:
For the people who aren't visiting Turkey because of Erdogan, you're hurting the small tourist businesses who may not have even voted for the guy rather than Erdogan himself. He has basically turned Turkey into a dictatorship, the tourism industry going to shit won't change that.
Click to expand...

I think you're missing the point
 
R

RuGalz

Member
Turkey is definitely on our bucket list of places to visit but who knows when we will get to visit at this point. Glad I did Egypt before everything that's happened in recent years.
 
Oppo

Oppo

Member
well, guess Turkey shouldn't have voted overwhelmingly for Erdogan, huh. he's kind of ruining everything.
 
V

Visualante2

Member
This time last year TRY was our top currency after EUR and USD. Past six months it has been dead. Past month it has picked up massively. I don't understand it but people are going, must just be really cheap for some people.
 
R

RedNalgene

Member
I feel really bad for the families whose livelihood depends on tourism, but it's just not a smart place to travel to now. My wife and I were looking for a place to go this spring and Turkey was very high on our list, but we didn't feel like it was a smart place to travel to. The US State Dept warns people about going there, and right when we were looking at possible destinations there was a car bombing in Ankara. I have no problem going to places where it's not "easy" but Turkey just seemed too dangerous. I'm sure we would have been fine, but what if we weren't?
 
R

Randomizer123454444

Member
hohoXD123 said:
For the people who aren't visiting Turkey because of Erdogan, you're hurting the small tourist businesses who may not have even voted for the guy rather than Erdogan himself. He has basically turned Turkey into a dictatorship, the tourism industry going to shit won't change that.
Click to expand...

Only reason why elected leaders are in power is because majority of voters want them to be. Or at very least tolerate them enough to do nothing.

People of Turkey want Erdogan in power. Sure some people may not want him but they are obviously in minority.
 
O

OriginalThinking

Member
azyless said:
I'm sure Erdogan's policies don't help either. I don't know anyone who particularly wants to go to Turkey now, and that includes people who've been before and had a fantastic time.
Click to expand...

Yep, that's what the article says. A combination of terrorism, falling Russian tourism (due to the current tensions between those 2 states) and Erdogans policies.

Jito said:
And nothing of value was lost.
Click to expand...


That's not true at all. Turkey is a fascinating place to visit with many, many cultural highlights.
 
xrnzaaas

xrnzaaas

Member
Well, it sucks for the common folk out there dependant on tourism, but to be fair the majority of them elected Erdogan. I would never travel there these days (same with Egypt and Tunisia, but not for the exact same reasons).
 
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