Zeynel Kılıç, Chairman of the Board of Hotel Ambrosia (Istanbul) has made an assessment of tourism in Turkey, in 2023. Emphasizing a positive outlook for 2024, he stated that he expected hotel occupancy rates in Bodrum to reach 90% in 2024.
The Chairman of the Board said “This year, there have been cost increases of nearly 600% in some input cost items and around 300% in personnel costs over the past two years. However, there has been a 0.84% increase in the Euro exchange rate until July 2023, and a 62% increase on an annual basis. In order to cover these costs, inevitably, the entire sector had to increase prices in Euros. Due to this reason, there have been reactions in the international market, and especially in the upper segment hotels, the desired occupancy rates could not be achieved.”
Pointing out declines in the luxury holiday segment in Bodrum and Antalya, Kılıç said, “The expected targets for 2023 could not be fully achieved. Looking at Bodrum overall, we have surpassed the year 2019, which was the year we hosted the highest number of tourists. We hosted 1.5 million tourists in Bodrum and 3.5 million tourists in the province of Muğla.”
FIGURES IN BODRUM FELL BELOW EXPECTATIONS IN 2023 SUMMER
During this transition period, there have been marketing challenges in the European market; however, over time, we can see that these pricing policies have now settled. Looking at the reservations made for 2024 during 2023 and the increase in early reservations made after Christmas, we can see that we can achieve the expected targets in 2024.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS WE FACE AS AN INDUSTRY IS QUALIFIED PERSONNEL
With our tourism diversity, which is spreading almost throughout the country and going beyond the classic sun, sea, and sand tourism marketing to history, gastronomy, health, and winter tourism diversity, it is certain that we will reach figures in tourism that we could not even dream of. By investing in the supply of qualified personnel, which is one of the biggest problems we face as an industry, we will be able to improve our tourism quality to desired levels and provide much better service.Especially in city tourism, which we call short-term 3-5 day city tourism, when we overcome the ethical issues encountered in practices, why can’t Istanbul, which hosts 18 million tourists, be as successful as Paris, which hosts 60 million tourists? I believe that the expected targets of the Ministry of Tourism, which have been left to professionals, of 90 million tourists and a target of $100 billion in 2028 will easily be achieved.
Our entire aim for the future is to increase the per capita tourist spending in our country from $1300 to $1500 initially, following the per capita tourist spending of $2600 in America and $2000 in the UK and $1300 in Spain. Especially in recent years, with our diversified tourism policies, the per capita tourist spending increasing from $880 in 2022 to $960 in 2023, I believe that we will easily achieve our targets for per capita tourist spending in the coming years.”
