Hotel owners in Turkey expect a solution to remove ban on Booking.com

It is reported that due to the booking losses that occurred after BOOKING.COM stopped its activities in Turkey, hoteliers are waiting for the problem to be resolved as soon as possible. On the other hand it is also reported that many tourists are forecasted to be expecting that the problem will be resolved so that they can benefit from concerned services of said online booking company on the web.

President of Turkish Federation of Hoteliers (TÜROFED) said that the fact that travelers/prospects were not able to make reservations on the web via Booking.com causes big loss for the hotels in the country. The president went on to say that both large and small hotels were influenced by this situation and went on to say “It is likely however that the hotels located on the coast and working with tour operators are affected less”.

Economy Minister ZEYBEKCI stated on the other hand that he would accept the Booking.com officials on 22 June, “This issue needs to be resolved as soon as possible and we should not keep it as a problem in front of Turkey and the industry. The travel agencies do not have very big losses here, the main loss is incurred the accommodation group”.

Cautionary judgment must be removed until final court ruling

President of Turkish Hoteliers Association (TÜROB) said that Turkey which targets to take its place among the promising countries in the world tourism should not be expected to practice an application such as confronting global developments at a time when rapid developments are experienced in the world and the sector and traditional sales channels are rapidly replaced by latest technologies. He emphasized that the expectation of the sector and the association was the removal of the injunction and that parties should wait until final decision of the court, considering the legal process of the case. He went on to say; “In addition to the negative effects of the entire accommodation sector in Turkey, this decision also cuts all resources of hotels, especially hotels in Anatolia, that provide rooms, small hotels, and a large portion of their market share from Booking.com. Rule of law in certainly unquestionable and in case it is determined by the court the company has caused breach of law such as and wrong and unfair competition, such practices should be corrected by Booking.com. However the fact the activities of Booking.com are stopped, has turned out be a punishment the sector as well as individuals to use concerned services provided by said company.

On the other hand Small Hotels Association Chairman has stated that Booking.com is an indispensable online sales channel, which is very popular among tourists and small hotels have been affected most, due to the ban on Booking.com. It is reported that small hotels have incurred a drop of 50-60 percent in reservations received after ban on Booking.com