Speaking to Sunday's Zaman, Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay said: "Turkey has situated its tourism on a line of consistency. An increase of around 10 percent, which is above the world average, is continuing. A reduction in the number of tourists from Israel will not affect a rise in the overall number of visitors to Turkey.
Noting that most hotels are at 90 percent to 100 percent occupancy, Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TÜROFED) Vice Chairman Seçim Aydın told Sunday's Zaman that the Mavi Marmara crisis has not impaired Turkish tourism, but rather had improved it. Underlining that there has been a burst in the number of tourists from neighboring countries, enough to compensate for the decline in tourists from Israel, Aydın said: "People who choose Turkey for hospitality, cultural values, the variety of recreational and relaxing opportunities and reasonable prices end up very happy. It is for this reason that Turkey has a fast growing tourism sector. Under these circumstances, as the sector of peace our door is open to everyone. In response to the decline in tourists from Israel, there has been an increase in interest in Turkey among neighboring and regional countries. True, the Mavi Marmara crisis caused Israeli tourists to cancel their reservations. But then we have received reservations that doubled the number of those cancellations. Therefore, problems with Israel during the Mavi Marmara or Davos incidents did not stop the rise in Turkish tourism but rather facilitated an increase."
Underlining that news reports about cancellations by Israeli tourists striking a blow to Turkish tourism were written deliberately, Aydın said, "I wonder what those who prepared such reports are going to write when they see that our tourism has not declined." He noted that meddling with the figures on purpose was improper, adding that "they claim that our tourism suffered because 600,000 Israeli tourists did not come to Turkey. First of all, the number of Israeli tourists who visit Turkey is 300,000, or let's say 350,000. But even if it were 600,000 as claimed, it still would not matter. When you divide it into 12 months, what significance would 50,000 tourists per month have, taking into consideration our accommodation capacity? What are they going to say about the increase in interest among neighboring countries in contrast to the cancellations from Israel? Are they going to write that the hotels are fully occupied? Turkish tourism, which is growing at a rate above the world average, will be able to deal with both the rise in interest and the reservation cancellations. Our sector is not a fragile sector that will be affected by 300,000 cancellations. If one leaves, another one will come. We do not depend on a single country or a single region. We are a sector that is open to the entire world."
Noting that some tour operators were affected negatively by the crisis with Israel, Aydın explained that only a limited number of tour operators that focus specifically on Israeli tourists were impacted by the cancellations but underlined that this in no way meant the entire sector had been adversely affected. Aydın reckoned that the cancellations were only temporary. He explained that there were many appealing sides to Turkey and that therefore Turkey wasn't a country that could easily be taken out of the program. He noted that people who care about their own interests will start visiting Turkey, albeit a little later on.
The differences in the spending habits of tourists also enable Turkey to achieve its targets. While Israeli tourists prefer package prices and usually don't leave the hotel premises, new tourists from neighboring countries spend more money. Noting that the general public is also aware of this situation, Aydın stated that "we travel all around Turkey. We visited Van last week. The streets in the city were filled with Iranian visitors. A portion of Iranian tourists, whose numbers are increasing, shop in Van before returning home. But a significant number of them spread across Turkey and travel to different areas. The number of visitors from Iran, which is climbing towards the top of the list of countries who send tourists to Turkey, increases every year. Likewise, the number of guests from countries such as Syria, Bulgaria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia is increasing exponentially. It's not just the rising number of tourists that helps the sector deal with the cancellations caused by the Mavi Marmara crisis but the increasing amount of money that is being left in Turkey by each tourist. As a result, contrary to what is being said, Turkey's tourism is making more revenue, not losing it. We are in the middle of the seventh month of the year, and there is no decline or even standstill in the number of tourists or revenue targets."
Israeli tourist backlash won’t undermine tourism
Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay said tension between Turkey and Israel following the Mavi Marmara crisis would not affect the above global average growth trend in the Turkish tourism sector. Günay stated that thousands of tourists could leave, but millions of new ones would come.
Speaking to Sunday's Zaman on the subject, Minister Günay said: "We are in the middle of the seventh month of the year. Despite some of the crises we are experiencing, we are having a very successful season. While our sector expresses itself in millions, cancellations in the thousands certainly do not mean a thing. It's true that reservations were cancelled after the tension with Israel. But these cancellations were immediately met with new demand. We will do everything we can to encourage a person who visited our country last year to decide to visit again this year. We are still very appealing, but the number of Israeli tourists is not a number that can undermine Turkey's tourism."
Noting that the current administration in Israel posed a problem not only for the Middle East but also the Israeli people, Günay said: "Turkish people have no problems with the people of Israel. Despite the mistakes of the Israeli government, hundreds of thousands of people from Israel who visit our country have great vacations here. We are always ready to have them as our guests. But the administration has this tense attitude. I truly hope the Israeli people get rid of this tense tone."
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