Recent situation of Turkey reservations in countries sending most tourists to Turkey?
Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom are in the top five on the list of countries with the most foreign visitors for years. As the summer of 2021 is about to begin with hopes, one has stopped flights, one has put Turkey on the Red List, and bookings in the other one are continuing.
A professional in the sector has shared his observations in the market as follows:
“The fact that tourism was very good in 2019 encouraged everyone here to invest. Some bought a house, some bought a car. Now people have very high credit debt. Some have started selling their houses and some have started selling their cars.”
This statement was a summary of 2020 tourism which started with high hopes and ended with high debt. Because of the pandemic that had a huge negative impact on the travel sector of the world, Turkey hosted 51.8 million people in 2019 whereas the number of visitors in 2020 was 15.8 million. Tourism revenues decreased by 65 percent, from $ 34 billion 520 million to $ 12 billion 59 million.
About 5 out of every 100 units of economy created came from tourism
According to the Turkish Association of travel agencies (TÜRSAB), the share of tourism revenues in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019 was 4.6 percent. So about 5 out of every 100 units created came from tourism. That was down to 1.74 percent in 2020.
The rate of closing the foreign trade deficit of tourism which was 133 percent and 98 percent respectively in 2001 and 2002, has been changing from 35 percent to 40 percent over the past 10 years. In 2019, this rate rose again to 110 percent. In 2020, it fell to 25 percent.
Measure announced to make up for the loss: vaccinating anyone tourists can see
Foreign Minister of Turkey, who met with his German counterpart Heiko Maas on May 6, appeared before reporters after the meeting in Berlin and made the following statement: “We focus on tourist regions in particular and we’ll take measures in regards, vaccinating anyone tourists can see such as those in hotels, restaurants, airports to include tour guides.”
Foreign Minister’s statement has been the subject of a debate to continue on on social media for several days. Citizens of the Republic of Turkey who have been at full closure since April 29, have put this statement at the focus of criticism as tourists who are likely to carry the virus can travel without restrictions, while they are forbidden to walk outdoors.
