The charming beaches of Turkey along the Mediterranean Sea used to be so crowded with tourists that it was difficult to find a place to keep a towel during the summer.But not so this year. Although officials say tourism profits rose 12 percent in the second quarter of this year and tourist arrivals were 15 percent higher than last year, Turkey's tourism sector has actually been slowing.
Mehmet Game of the tourism organization Tikonfed says that for the first time in years, hotels have a large number of empty rooms in the month of July.
According to him, the maximum rate of getting rooms on rent from tourists in hotels was up to 60 percent. Normally in Turkey this rate used to be 90 to 95 percent in summer
Since the end of the travel restrictions related to the Corona epidemic, the trend of tourism has been increasing every year around the world.
But the pace in Turkey was not as fast as in other places in the Mediterranean region. Tourists seem to prefer cheaper alternatives.
Inflation in Turkey has also deterred locals from vacationing and is one of the reasons for fewer tourists in hotels.
According to official data, the inflation rate in Turkey is a little over 61%.
Nour Daman, the owner of a hotel in Kisme, western Turkey, says, "My hotel rooms are filled only because of its proximity to the sea." The rest of the hotels are struggling. We have also reduced the rent of the rooms while the electricity and other expenses have increased.
People of Turkish origin living in Europe, who used to go to Turkey on vacation, are also no longer coming, according to Noor.
Impact of sports tourism
Turkish officials believe that one of the reasons for the low number of tourists is that major sports tournaments were being held in Europe this summer.
It should be remembered that the Euro Football Championship was held in Germany from June 14 to July 14, where six million additional tourists were expected. On the other hand, there were more than 10 million tourists during the three weeks of the Olympics in Paris.
Because of these events and the tournament, Turkey's Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nouri says tourist arrivals are likely to remain sluggish until September. However, according to him, the number of visitors to Turkey will increase after that.
He believes that the latest figures show that we will easily cross the target of 60 million tourists a year, which will be a six percent increase.
It should be remembered that this year the Greek authorities introduced a visa express scheme under which Turkish citizens can obtain visas after arriving at 10 Greek islands.
The project resulted in increased tourist interest in these destinations and many social media users claimed that the Greek islands were much cheaper than Turkey.
According to news reports, the Turkish government is trying to combat inflation by keeping the exchange rate low
Tarkan, the owner of a hotel in the historic center of Istanbul, agrees and says that tourists from Arab countries prefer Greece to Turkey and complain about the high prices of food and clothing.
"We are not making a profit and we are grateful if the expenses are met," he says. Compared to last year, our expenditure has increased three times while the income is the same.
Many users on social media showed hotel bills on the Greek islands and claimed that the prices there were lower than in Turkey.
One user on X claimed that he could have spent four nights on the Greek island of Lesbos for the same price as one night in a luxury hotel in Turkey
Bad reputation
The problem is not only high prices, but there have also been complaints from tourists that they were cheated. These complaints can also be a factor in tourists' decisions.
A major controversy erupted in Antalya last month when a tourist was charged 1,200 lira for two glasses of pomegranate juice. The tourists got their money back after local authorities intervened.
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