The lifting of the travel bans imposed by the People's Republic of China within the scope of the Kovid-19 epidemic measures for some countries, including Turkey, increased the expectations in Pamukkale, a frequent destination for Far Eastern tourists.
After the start of the Kovid-19 epidemic, China suspended group tours to foreign countries in March 2020, and allowed these tours to be organized to 78 countries, including Turkey, on August 10, 2023.
In Pamukkale, one of the most visited ruins in Turkey by Far Eastern tourists who are interested in cultural tours, tourism professionals have started working to attract Chinese tourists.
Gazi Murat Şen, Vice President of the Turkish Hoteliers Federation, stated that the number of tourists coming to Turkey from China reached 426 thousand 344 in 2019, but it decreased to 30 thousand after the Kovid-19 epidemic, and last year, 89 thousand 515 tourists from this country were hosted.
Expressing that the issuance of permission for group travels could bring the figures back to their previous level, Şen noted that they found remarkable increases in applications made to travel agencies for Turkey after the bans were lifted.
Expressing that the arrival of Chinese tourists can significantly increase the number of visitors in Pamukkale, Şen said:
"Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, China were the Far East countries where we received the most visitors. China was at the forefront of this. With the decrease in the number of Chinese guests, we were already having difficulties in meeting the targets. With the opening of China, in 2024, we will start seeing our Far Eastern guests intensively, especially in Pamukkale and Hierapolis. This is gratifying for us.
When we look at the 2019 figures, we can see how important China is. In 2019, more than 426 thousand Chinese visited our country. We hosted about 90 percent of these visitors in Pamukkale and Hierapolis."
"Flights should be increased"
Şen stated that the Chinese mostly visit Istanbul, Cappadocia and Pamukkale in Turkey, and that they will focus on this market for the next season.
Pointing out that flights should be enriched in order to increase the number of tourists coming from this country, Şen expressed that they want scheduled flights from different cities of China to start.
Expressing that Turkey's share of the number of Chinese tourists in the world market is below the potential, Şen shared the following views:
"The important thing here is transportation. We do not have a chance to bring guests from China except by plane. The more we increase the number of planes, the faster we will reach the Chinese tourist target. Also, flights to Denizli need to be increased. Tourists coming to Istanbul prefer to come to Denizli by plane rather than by land. If we can increase the flights between Denizli and Istanbul, we can host more Chinese guests in Denizli."