The Turkish tourism sector, which accounts for 5% of the country’s GDP, is hard hit by the war on the other side of the Black Sea. Russia and Ukraine are among the main countries of origin of its tourists.
Article written by
Published
Reading time : 2 min.
Turkish economy suffers from record inflation more than 50% one year. This is one of the reasons why Turkey, while supporting Ukraine, excludes join western sanctions against Russia, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. In particular, it refuses to prohibit its airspace to Russian planes. Because Turkey is counting on the Russians and the Ukrainians to revive the tourism sector. Last year, four and a half million Russians flocked to the beaches in the south of the country, in Antalya or Mugla, despite the pandemic. Russia is the first country of origin of tourists in Turkey, ahead of Germany and… Ukraine. Ukrainians were two million last year to go to Anatolia. The two nationalities represented a quarter of tourists last year.
For the travel agencies that work mainly with these two countries, the war is synonymous with a ruined season. “March bookings have all been cancelled, approximately 500 people.” laments Saniya Günay, manager of a tourist agency based in Sultanahmet, on the historic peninsula of Istanbul. Ukrainians made up 90% of its customers. “At the moment, we should be registering new reservations from Ukraine. But it all stopped dead. We are dealing with cancellations from Russia, since the main Russian companies have suspended their international flights.“This situation could lead to the end of his business:”We’re probably going to have to put the key under the door and do something else.”
For tourism professionals, the 2022 season seemed promising. But the war has compromised the sector’s hopes. “We can put an end to the two and a half million Ukrainian tourists expected this year” deplores Tolga Gencer, a leading member of the Union of Turkish Travel Agencies (Türsab). He explains that all those who make a living from tourism have had to redo their calculations: “For the Russians, because of the economic sanctions, we will certainly not have the 6 or 7 million expected. Even if a ceasefire were signed tomorrow, they would be 2 or 3 million maximum. And if the sanctions last, we won’t even get to that.“
Professionals also fear having fewer clients from Western Europe who would avoid Turkey because of its geographical proximity to Ukraine and Russia.