• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Turkey tourism hits rock bottom

Status
Not open for further replies.
If I chose not to visit countries that at one point or another committed terrible acts against others or its own population in previous times I'd have no where to go, or live.

Nah it's fine if they acknowledge it. The constant denying paints them in a bad light.
 
Forget paying to go there, I can go for free through work but nope.

Sad thing is that I really wanna see Turkey, but as long as the ISIS shit is going on and Erdogan is the president, I will not be touching that place with a 10 foot pole.
 
Way to miss his/her point.

I'm not missing the point. When you make an absolutist statement that "nothing of value was lost" I take issue with that. Should the government keep up it's denial of atrocities? No. Does it mean that because the government has denied those atrocities that everyone in Turkey agrees? That every tourist destination is not worth visiting? I disagree. There are lots of issues I have with governments of various states, but I do not think that "nothing of value was lost" if the Turkish economy collapses.
 
385px-Turkish_general_election%2C_November_2015_map.png


Looking at the Nov 2015 election results, it looks like the coastal provinces around Antalya all still voted for the AKP (Erdogan's party). It obviously sucks for the people working in tourism, but the majority seems to agree with the direction Erdogan has taken the country.
 
Looking at the Nov 2015 election results, it looks like the coastal provinces around Antalya all still voted for the AKP (Erdogan's party). It obviously sucks for the people working in tourism, but the majority seems to agree with the direction Erdogan has taken the country.
So how's the propaganda over there, pretty good?
 
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.

Actually half of the country is opposed to him, but those votes are spread among other political parties. Educate yourself before making assumptions like this.
 
shame to see a country go through this, looks like the terrorism threat is a major cause

I think the bigger issue is strained relations with several key tourist nations. Erdogan and the AKP by extension are making the entire country look bad. Add to that the fallout of the Russian jet incident, and struggling tourism is not all that surprising.
 
Wonderful country so a huge shame. My family go every year.

It's hardly surprising considering the government and the sheer regularity of terrorist attacks.
 
Would love to visit Istanbul (has been on my list for a few years), but as long as Erdogan is in place I'm firmly on the boycot train. Even realising this is terrible for the people depending on tourism.
 
meanwhile: Spain, Portugal and Greece have been getting a tourism spike increase from other European tourists who are avoiding Tunisia and Turkey.

I personally boycott Turkey because Edrogan is not respecting his NATO engagements and is a religious nutjob.
+Turkey denies the Armenian Genocide; = that equals a forever boycott
 
My good friend went with his brother and sister-in-law some years ago (more than 5).
The hotel they were staying at was actually bombed in the night, everyone was evacuated.

Luckily he and his family were unharmed.
 
That's unfortunate but expected with all the stuff going on in the region. Turkey is an amazing place to visit though. An insane amount of well preserved archaeological sites from the Ottoman, Roman, Greek, and even some Neolithic eras. Also just a beautiful country overall.
 
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.
Maybe but I think its not so much boycotting as people feeling insecure going there. Erdogan will have to realize that getting along with other countries is the only way to have people feeling welcomed and safe.
 
Not bothered by the terrorism, just don't want to go to a dictatorship and country that's constantly antagonizing us. I've already been twice before anyway.
 
I'm off to Turkey for a holiday with my family in just under two weeks. No fucks given.


Wish us luck GAF.
 
Really not a surprise. With Erdogan prioritizing his ego over the wellbeing of his country things are bound to go bad. Be it arresting anyone who criticizes him, violently taking over dissenting media organizations, shooting down a Russian plane for petty reasons (seriously, that territory violation was so minor that it wasn't an actual security problem), throwing a massive tantrum over the Armenian genocide, ...
 
things are looking pretty bad for turkey. will the olympics or world cup choose them to exploit next? looks like a perfect candidate.
 
I would love to go to Turkey. It is one of the top countries I would like to travel to, but I've postponed that indefinitely for now.
 
was there for vacation every second year for the last ten years and ive definitely noticed a drop in tourists a few months back. really makes me afraid of going again though since one of the spots hit by a bomb last time was a place i visited nearly every time ...
 
I'm off to Turkey for a holiday with my family in just under two weeks. No fucks given.


Wish us luck GAF.

I went in february after the attack on German tourists. It was great, I went to Izmir, Ephesus, Nevsehir, Cappadocia and Istanbul for 7 days. There were no problems. There was a suicide attack in Ankara while I was in the country but most people seemed to not care.

I did most of the tourist centric things first to get them out of the way. Stay away from crowds. I went to Taksim Square/ Istiklal Caddesi before the blast in March and it was an amazing place. Tons of people. Now I hear that it's not as populated for fear of blasts.

I hope to go again soon.
 
Tbh people are stupid and scared because of the news.

Most of Turkey is so safe and normal like Western countries, especially the tourist beach hotspots on the Western/Southern Coast.

80 million Turks live in Turkey and about 25-30 million at least live good enough lives where First World problems are a thing to them (Can't say exact figures, but hell I'm probably even underestimating with those figures).

So if these people live in Turkey and do all the normal life stuff, what is there to worry about.

How is France's and Belgium's tourism doing?

I think it sucks that people make their judgements of a country based on politics. Half of Turkey hates Erdoğan and most of his supporters are too dumb to know better. Go to Turkey FOR THE people. Fuck the politicians.
 
I was planning to go to the gay pride celebration, but..
That is admittedly embarrassing and is 3 things about Turkey that hurt me today (the other 2 being Islamist thugs harassing people for drinking on Ramadan and Turkey's football team being a shitshow).

Look. All I'm saying is there are people in Turkey who are cool. Go to Turkey for them. That's the Turkey I have in my head when I go to visit. Cool drinking spots, restuarants, clubbing is not my thing but that's there too. I'm not blind to the bullshit, but there is a good side to Turkey that the bullshit can't remove because despite Erdoğan, Turkey is too far gone to be reigned back to Islam fully.

I'm the same mentality as all you guys. I'm a Western person. I supposey advantage is that I know Turkey as I'm an ethnic Turk. It's easier to make negative judgements on the county as a whole as an outsider.

Let's say Trump wins. Would people all of a sudden boycott tourism to America? Do people boycott America due to shootings? Hell Trump doesn't have to win, the conservative middle of America still exists. Should people boycott America because of the Christian right?
 
That is admittedly embarrassing and is 3 things about Turkey that hurt me today (the other 2 being Islamist thugs harassing people for drinking on Ramadan and Turkey's football team being a shitshow).

Look. All I'm saying is there are people in Turkey who are cool. Go to Turkey for them. That's the Turkey I have in my head when I go to visit. Cool drinking spots, restuarants, clubbing is not my thing but that's there too. I'm not blind to the bullshit, but there is a good side to Turkey that the bullshit can't remove because despite Erdoğan, Turkey is too far gone to be reigned back to Islam fully.

I'm the same mentality as all you guys. I'm a Western person. I supposey advantage is that I know Turkey as I'm an ethnic Turk. It's easier to make negative judgements on the county as a whole as an outsider.

Let's say Trump wins. Would people all of a sudden boycott tourism to America? Do people boycott America due to shootings? Hell Trump doesn't have to win, the conservative middle of America still exists. Should people boycott America because of the Christian right?

I edited my post because I just thought about how shitty america is. The gop doesn't represent us. And nothing but truth is detected in your post. You were passionate about the post, and I was just being a dickhead.
 
I don't think people should, but it will happen. Tourism is a delicate thing, because more so than ever, the whole world is an option when you book your holiday. And it's important that you get lots of positive feelings as you lay down thousands of euros. Just the slightest kind of negative connotation may bring people to choose an alternative destination. President Trump will negatively impact international tourism to the USA (I'm trying to figure out if it happened under Dubya, but can't find anything). I feel bad for the not-AKP and not-MHP Turks, though that's a minority, and a lot of them have started to flee the country. But the others, the big majority, I feel little sympathy for, they need to learn that being a nationalist/islamist egomaniac will get you nowhere. The sooner the better.

edit: definitely a dip during W. years, at least his first term. Though this probably also has to do with the fact that a large part of international tourism is to NYC
http://www.statista.com/statistics/214686/number-of-international-visitors-to-the-us/
 
Tbh people are stupid and scared because of the news.

Most of Turkey is so safe and normal like Western countries, especially the tourist beach hotspots on the Western/Southern Coast.

80 million Turks live in Turkey and about 25-30 million at least live good enough lives where First World problems are a thing to them (Can't say exact figures, but hell I'm probably even underestimating with those figures).

So if these people live in Turkey and do all the normal life stuff, what is there to worry about.

How is France's and Belgium's tourism doing?

I think it sucks that people make their judgements of a country based on politics. Half of Turkey hates Erdoğan and most of his supporters are too dumb to know better. Go to Turkey FOR THE people. Fuck the politicians.

People are getting murdered there for adultery and all sorts of other insane, backwards reasons. The situation isn't good. I don't really blame people for not wanting to go there right now.
 
It's almost like becoming a somewhat authoritarian state and also theocratic turns off tourists. The blame is on Erdogan and the Turkish people. Rising xenophobia and tensions, terrorist activity is rising because Turkey followed the enemy of my enemy is my friend mentality with ISIS and anti-Kurd forces, not challenging them until it was too late. Turkey is still the #1 port of entry for foreign ISIS fighters to enter and exit etc. Erdogan shooting down the Russian jet is probably one of the biggest blunders in the history of NATO. Not only did it galvanize a Russian response, but has cost the economy tens of billions of dollars.

Why would anyone choose Turkey over say the UAE? Istanbul is now no different than a Cairo where journalists and tourists are at increased danger. Withdrawing ambassadors because you refuse to acknowledge your ottoman ancestors committed genocide against the armenians. These things add up. I myself would now rather visit Dubai or even up and coming Doha over Istanbul.
 
What a shame, considering some of the incredible museums that Turkey has. Anyone interested in ancient civilizations would be blown away by The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara.

Erdogan's nationalism and construction binge has imperiled a lot of historical locations, and a lot of areas around Istanbul have a doubtful future. Erdogan's palace was built what was supposed to be a forest reserve, for example.

I don't know, maybe getting beaten by lead pipes for listening to Radiohead and having a drink in Istanbul?

I really wonder what some of the old places I used to hang out at look like now. Street vendors in Eskisehir (a university town, which, to be said, has voted against the AK Party at the mayoral level* for years) used to have newspaper vendors who would sell softcore porn mags on the street. Istanbul has always had a straint of religious extremism in it though, after all, that's where Erdogan came from. There hasn't been a mayor from a secularist party there in more than 20 years -- contrast this to, say, Izmir.

*this dude also has a museum to house his wax sculptures in, no, really
 
Terrorism threat is the cause? How about the tyrrany of Erdogan and his crimes against humanity? Fuck Erdogan. I hope he cares deeply about football.

Tbh people are stupid and scared because of the news.

Most of Turkey is so safe and normal like Western countries, especially the tourist beach hotspots on the Western/Southern Coast.

80 million Turks live in Turkey and about 25-30 million at least live good enough lives where First World problems are a thing to them (Can't say exact figures, but hell I'm probably even underestimating with those figures).

So if these people live in Turkey and do all the normal life stuff, what is there to worry about.

How is France's and Belgium's tourism doing?

I think it sucks that people make their judgements of a country based on politics. Half of Turkey hates Erdoğan and most of his supporters are too dumb to know better. Go to Turkey FOR THE people. Fuck the politicians.

These aren't harmless politics. They are locking up rape victims and have refused dual citizens from leaving the country. The country is not safe to travel to for many reasons.
 
good, more people need to stop visiting asshole backward countries.
I will never travel to middle eastern countries again.
horrible experience in Egypt, horrible experience in Dubai.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom