September 12, 2011Tourists From Mideast, Europe Crowd Into Turkey
Istanbul, Don't talk to Togra Saydan about the global downturn. The Istanbul-based tour guide is working 18-hour days and has had to cancel his vacation.
Unrest in the region, a weak Turkish currency and Ankara's closer ties with neighbors are driving up tourism in Turkey. Hotels in Istanbul are clocking the highest occupancy rates in Europe, while many of the city's conference halls are booked well into next year, industry groups and analysts said. Turkey's coastal resorts say they are turning away customers.
"Istanbul is having a renaissance; our economy is strong and political problems on our doorstep are all bringing tourists here," Mr. Saydan said. "These are the kinds of problems I always wanted to have."
Continues
The latest data on Turkey's $25 billion tourism industry show the number of tourists—local and foreign—increased by almost 11% in the first seven months of this year compared with the same period in 2010, according to the Ministry of Tourism. And 2010 was a bumper year.
The visitors include record numbers arriving from Europe and the Mideast. The crowds are bringing with them a welcome injection of foreign currency. Turkey's economy is cooling from heady growth earlier this year and needs to finance a huge trade imbalance and a current-account deficit forecast to hit as much as 10% of gross domestic product by year's end.
In part, Turkey is gaining from tourists' desire to steer clear of political fallout—including in Tunisia and Egypt, in the wake of their popular revolts, and in neighboring Syria amid escalating violence. Meanwhile, tourism is rebounding strongly in Greece after two years of sharp declines, but persistent protests in Athens have weighed on the government's attempts to reinvigorate the sector by slashing prices and cutting staff.
"We had been planning to go to Cairo this year and travel down the Nile for the second time, but with all the troubles there we chose Istanbul instead," said Georgina Lake, a civil servant from southwest England on a week-long vacation with her husband. "I can't believe we didn't make it here before, but it wasn't on our radar."
She said she heard "buzz" about Turkey and made the choice after reading recommendations in newspapers.
Turkey itself isn't trouble-free, but its hot spots are far from common travel destinations, especial those selected by foreign tourists. Domestic travel also is up, despite the sudden halt of a recent surge in travel to the southeast area, as violence by Kurdish militants and retaliatory Turkish bombing flared up.
Tourism in general has been helped by the Turkish lira, which has fallen more than 20% against major currencies since November. Vacationers also are spending more. A July report from Turkey's Interbank Center, a research group funded by Turkish banks, showed a 35% rise in foreign credit-card spending in the first six months of 2011, compared with the same period a year ago. That far outpaces tourist spending growth in Italy (17%) and Portugal (16%) and Greece (14%).
The spending is bolstered by the rapid acceleration in the number of Middle Eastern tourists, who travel less frequently than Europeans but spend more freely, analysts said. Iran now sends more tourists to Turkey than any country, except Germany and the U.K, posting a 75% increase this year, according to Turkey's culture and tourism ministry. Visa-free travel, and new Turkish Airlines connections to Iranian cities, as well as greater availability of flights in general, explain the rise, the ministry said.
Arab tourism also has expanded robustly over the past two years. In May, tourists from Yemen were up 87% from last year, while the rise in tourists from Saudi Arabia and Iraq was 79% and 46%, respectively.
The jump is the result of Ankara's warmer relations and visa-free policies with its neighbors, and because of growing Arab interest in Turkish culture—from TV soap operas and pop music, to Turkey's rehabilitation of its Ottoman history. Istanbul, the old imperial capital, is now a popular wedding destination for Arabs.
The tourism boom is helping burnish Turkey's rising economic reputation. Data released on Monday showed GDP expanded 8.8% in the second quarter, after outstripping China in the first three months of the year, to post the fastest growth of any Group of 20 nation. Monday's data far exceeded market expectations.
Local hoteliers say Turkey now can compete more effectively than before with higher-end tourism in Italy and the south of France.
Turkey's coastal resorts are seeing record demand, with the Mediterranean hub of Antalya reporting a 14% rise, to a record six million visitors, in the seven months to the end of July. In Bodrum, the Aegean peninsula famed for its package tours and luxury resorts, hoteliers are predicting a record season. Authorities are building a new airport to cater to expanded demand.
"There is a big expansion in high-end investments in Bodrum: Armani hotels are opening soon; Mandarin Oriental and Bulgari will also open soon," said Sahir Erozan, owner of Macakizi beach club and hotel, one of the peninsula's luxury developments. "We're learning from the mistakes made with mass development, here and in other Mediterranean countries; we're moving up the value chain."
Mr. Erozan said his business has grown 20% annually for the past six years. "But this year it's the strongest," he added. "Advance bookings are also much higher. For the next two years we'll be fully booked a year ahead."
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Unrest in the region, a weak Turkish currency and Ankara's closer ties with neighbors are driving up tourism in Turkey. Hotels in Istanbul are clocking the highest occupancy rates in Europe, while many of the city's conference halls are booked well into next year, industry groups and analysts said. Turkey's coastal resorts say they are turning away customers.
"Istanbul is having a renaissance; our economy is strong and political problems on our doorstep are all bringing tourists here," Mr. Saydan said. "These are the kinds of problems I always wanted to have."
Continues
The latest data on Turkey's $25 billion tourism industry show the number of tourists—local and foreign—increased by almost 11% in the first seven months of this year compared with the same period in 2010, according to the Ministry of Tourism. And 2010 was a bumper year.
The visitors include record numbers arriving from Europe and the Mideast. The crowds are bringing with them a welcome injection of foreign currency. Turkey's economy is cooling from heady growth earlier this year and needs to finance a huge trade imbalance and a current-account deficit forecast to hit as much as 10% of gross domestic product by year's end.
In part, Turkey is gaining from tourists' desire to steer clear of political fallout—including in Tunisia and Egypt, in the wake of their popular revolts, and in neighboring Syria amid escalating violence. Meanwhile, tourism is rebounding strongly in Greece after two years of sharp declines, but persistent protests in Athens have weighed on the government's attempts to reinvigorate the sector by slashing prices and cutting staff.
"We had been planning to go to Cairo this year and travel down the Nile for the second time, but with all the troubles there we chose Istanbul instead," said Georgina Lake, a civil servant from southwest England on a week-long vacation with her husband. "I can't believe we didn't make it here before, but it wasn't on our radar."
She said she heard "buzz" about Turkey and made the choice after reading recommendations in newspapers.
Turkey itself isn't trouble-free, but its hot spots are far from common travel destinations, especial those selected by foreign tourists. Domestic travel also is up, despite the sudden halt of a recent surge in travel to the southeast area, as violence by Kurdish militants and retaliatory Turkish bombing flared up.
Tourism in general has been helped by the Turkish lira, which has fallen more than 20% against major currencies since November. Vacationers also are spending more. A July report from Turkey's Interbank Center, a research group funded by Turkish banks, showed a 35% rise in foreign credit-card spending in the first six months of 2011, compared with the same period a year ago. That far outpaces tourist spending growth in Italy (17%) and Portugal (16%) and Greece (14%).
The spending is bolstered by the rapid acceleration in the number of Middle Eastern tourists, who travel less frequently than Europeans but spend more freely, analysts said. Iran now sends more tourists to Turkey than any country, except Germany and the U.K, posting a 75% increase this year, according to Turkey's culture and tourism ministry. Visa-free travel, and new Turkish Airlines connections to Iranian cities, as well as greater availability of flights in general, explain the rise, the ministry said.
Arab tourism also has expanded robustly over the past two years. In May, tourists from Yemen were up 87% from last year, while the rise in tourists from Saudi Arabia and Iraq was 79% and 46%, respectively.
The jump is the result of Ankara's warmer relations and visa-free policies with its neighbors, and because of growing Arab interest in Turkish culture—from TV soap operas and pop music, to Turkey's rehabilitation of its Ottoman history. Istanbul, the old imperial capital, is now a popular wedding destination for Arabs.
The tourism boom is helping burnish Turkey's rising economic reputation. Data released on Monday showed GDP expanded 8.8% in the second quarter, after outstripping China in the first three months of the year, to post the fastest growth of any Group of 20 nation. Monday's data far exceeded market expectations.
Local hoteliers say Turkey now can compete more effectively than before with higher-end tourism in Italy and the south of France.
Turkey's coastal resorts are seeing record demand, with the Mediterranean hub of Antalya reporting a 14% rise, to a record six million visitors, in the seven months to the end of July. In Bodrum, the Aegean peninsula famed for its package tours and luxury resorts, hoteliers are predicting a record season. Authorities are building a new airport to cater to expanded demand.
"There is a big expansion in high-end investments in Bodrum: Armani hotels are opening soon; Mandarin Oriental and Bulgari will also open soon," said Sahir Erozan, owner of Macakizi beach club and hotel, one of the peninsula's luxury developments. "We're learning from the mistakes made with mass development, here and in other Mediterranean countries; we're moving up the value chain."
Mr. Erozan said his business has grown 20% annually for the past six years. "But this year it's the strongest," he added. "Advance bookings are also much higher. For the next two years we'll be fully booked a year ahead."
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