ITB Berlin International Tourism Fair, one of the largest tourism fairs in the world, which Turkish tourism professionals also showed great interest, will be held on 07-09 March 2023 at the Berlin Messegelande (ExpoCenter City) area in Berlin, Germany. The full staff of Sherwood Resorts & Hotels within the body of Ceylan Holding, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in the accommodation sector last year, took its place at the fair.
Hasan Ali Ceylan, chairman of the board of directors of the group, Ceylan Group founder Şükrü Ceylan, Ceysu Board Member Aydın Ceylan, and tourism group sales and marketing manager Sezer Şener, who have made a name for themselves with the serious help they have provided to the region affected by the earthquake in recent days, attended.
"Turkish tourism will reach better places"
Hasan Ali Ceylan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company, said, “We left behind our 30th year by growing and developing a better quality service approach. We want to advance in tourism as long as economic conditions and demand continue. We love our main line of business, tourism, and what we do. As Turkish tourism professionals, I think we provide the best tourism service in the world. On the other hand, we also provide the best all-inclusive service in the world. This is known and therefore our country is preferred. Europe, especially Germany and England, is a market we already serve. Europeans prefer us. As ITB Berlin is one of the most important fairs of the industry, we wanted our brand to be here as well, and we met with our friends again."
Germans will choose Turkey for their holidays again
The Association of German Travel Agencies (DRV) reported that there has been a two-fold increase in travel agency holiday reservations in Germany, with Turkey leading the way among the most popular destinations. He also stated that holiday expenditures, which decreased to 28.8 billion euros in 2021 with the effect of the pandemic, doubled to 58.6 billion euros in 2022. However, Germans spending for holidays is still 16 percent below the amount in the pre-pandemic period.
Making a statement before the International Tourism Fair (ITB), DRV President Norbert Fiebig stated that the increase in holiday expenditures is a positive development despite the one-year war in Ukraine and high inflation, and said, "We aim to reach the record turnover level in 2019, before the Corona." In 2019, Germans spent 98 billion euros on holidays, 69.5 billion euros of which was pre-booked services, the rest was trips and other side expenses during the holiday.
MOST FAVORITE COUNTRY IS TURKEY
DRV's evaluation based on the reservations made so far reveals that 40 percent of the summer holiday turnover consists of the countries in the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkey leads the way in holiday destinations, followed by Spain, Greece, Egypt and Portugal. Stating that one-third of the reservations made since the beginning of this year cover the May-October holidays, and that the turnover increased by 46 percent in cruise holidays, which were popular before the pandemic, DRV President Fiebig said that package travel, including hotel and flight, is on the way to return to its former power.
According to DRV data, package travel reservations made between November 1, 2021 and October 31, 2022, amounted to 25.9 billion euros, an increase of 148% compared to the previous year. Referring to the chaos experienced at airports in Germany last year, Fiebig warned that much more needs to be done to meet the high demand in main destinations. Long queues and delays were experienced at airports in Germany last summer due to staff shortages, and thousands of flights were canceled.