Generally, on the wind down during the Winter months, you’ll find that around 50% of the hotels and resorts in Turkey will close in September, around 80% will close in October and all of them will be closed by November, however, this year is proving to be a major change as almost of the facilities are preparing to operate at full capacity.
Ferhan Ademhan, who is a member of the board of the Anatolian Tourism Operators Association, puts this down to two fundamental reasons, firstly because whilst Europe is suffering from an energy crisis more and more people are turning to alternative solutions and warmer climates & secondly both Ukranain & Russian tourists are extending stays as they try to avoid Putin’s continuous war.
‘There is serious demand already’, he says, ‘and if these political conjunctures continue we would expect that the hotels and apartment complexes which are usually closed during the winter, will stay open, and reach a high level of occupancy.’ Tourism figures for Turkey this year were already predicted to be high with a target of around 40-50 million, and figures have already surpassed 26 million, which has resulted in an income boost of approx. $35bn USD.
Even though Turkey has been affected in its own way by the energy crises, it’s not as reliant on Russian gas as many European countries, and therefore as long as their existing natural gas suppliers stick to their schedules they should be able to comfortably get through Winter without any problems. As costs continue to rise, European’s on the other hand will find it difficult and as President Erdogan discussed in the press recently that he didn’t expect Turkey to experience any energy shortages this year, and therefore prices shouldn’t rise as steeply, many European’s are now looking at alternative & cheaper solutions.
