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Tourism companies in Cappadocia want balloon flights to start as soon as possible

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Following the postponement of hot air balloon tours in Cappadocia until October by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to combat the corona virus, regional tourism establishments have called for balloon flights to begin as soon as possible.

TÜRSAB regional official has made a statement criticizing the decision taken by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to postpone hot air balloon tours in Cappadocia until October as part of the fight against the corona virus. The official said, “The postponement of balloon tours by SHGM until October in the days when we enter the process of normalization in Turkey will cause serious wounds to Cappadocia tourism.

He went on to say, “The postponement of balloon flights in Cappadocia until October will seriously hurt us both in terms of tourism and employment in the region of Cappadocia. We demand that this decision be reconsidered and corrected as soon as possible. As we have seen in many e-mails from travel agencies now, if balloon flights are not started, we will have many returns, such as “lets postpone our holiday” in Cappadocia.

Cancelling balloon tours is an extremely damaging decision that needs to be fixed. We reached a peak last year. Both the Turkish economy and Cappadocia achieved serious income. When we look at the figures that came to the Cappadocia region last year, a large proportion of those who came to the region were domestic tourism. We start with domestic tourism as a priority and then during the 9th and 10th months we will welcome guests from foreign tourism. I think there will be a very serious increase in domestic tourism with the balloons.”

Tourism in the town of Goreme Ziya Daşdeler in the statement, Kapadokya hot air balloon tours have been cancelled now that the whole world has seen the revival of tourism in the region balloon tours should be made by reconsidering, he said. “Everyone in the world can now see balloon flights in Cappadocia. What can come to us now is not coming from Europe, from Japan, from the United States, from South America anyway.


Lisa Rademacher, operator of ADELYA CAVE HOTEL which is one of the most reputable hotels in the area made the following statement regarding the issue:

“The impact of the pandemic hit Cappadocia very hard and very quickly. Almost overnight in early March, Goreme and surrounding villages were emptied of tourists and many residents were suddenly unemployed – hotel and restaurant staff, tour guides, hot air balloon crews and transport drivers to name just a few. Often multiple family members work in tourism and those families were hit especially hard.

In order to reignite our local economy and help our residents earn a living, we need to attract international tourists. It is imperative that the balloons fly again to bring these tourists. Travellers are expressing an interest to come, but when they hear the balloons aren’t flying, they give up on their travel plans and say they will postpone their Turkey travel plans until next year. This will not only hurt Cappadocia, but potentially other regions of Turkey too.

I understand the concerns about the need to socially distance in a balloon to minimise risk of spreading the Covid-19 virus. But this can be managed by reducing the number of people in a basket, limiting the people in each compartment to related groups, ensure passengers wear masks and take other precautions to ensure everyone’s safety. I believe that it can be managed more safely than some of the bars and nightclubs in the coastal areas right now!” (WEB PAGE: https://www.adelyacave.com)

Another tourism professional in the region said, “Everyone in the world can now see balloon flights in Cappadocia. What can come to us now is not coming from Europe, from Japan, from the United States, from South America anyway.”

We may have guests from Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, maybe some Arab countries. These people also look on the internet and see balloon tours in Cappadocia have been postponed for 3 months. People say if I’m going to Cappadocia, I’ll go in 3 months. Thousands of people come to take balloon photos, whether in a balloon or not. We shouldn’t be looking at it from the point of view of the balloon-boarding tourists, only.”

Hundreds of thousands of people in Cappadocia who are unable to ride a balloon because of fees or because they cannot find space, take pictures of the balloons. Tourism establishments cannot do business in Cappadocia for 6 months, anyway. If another 3 or 4 months like this add on top people will not have any energy to continue.

To make all this better, balloon flights need to be restarted immediately. They do not have to fly all but let 10 balloons fly every day, even symbolically. (TA)

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