The occupancy of the hotels approached 100 percent
Mehmet İşler, Vice President of the Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TÜROFED), President of the Aegean Touristic Enterprises and Accommodation Association (ETIK), announced that there was a double holiday in the tourism sector due to Eid al-Adha, and the occupancy rate in accommodation facilities approached 100 percent. İşler drew attention to the fact that the Aegean Region is one of the most sought-after regions by the citizens, with its prices appealing to all segments and its variety of tourism. Mehmet İşler, Vice President of TÜROFED and Head of ETHICS, announced the reservation rates for Eid al-Adha. Stating that there was an abundance of holiday in tourism, İşler said, "Especially the fact that the holiday was extended to nine days and everyone's planning had a positive effect on the tourism sector. Tourism professionals welcomed this. We see a five-day concentration in reservations, especially in these nine days. Five days of these nine days are very busy. We see a peak in the first five days in some places and towards the last five days in some places. It is a fact that another benefit of having a nine-day holiday is that especially when leaving the cities and returning to the cities, people will leave earlier or later to relieve the traffic at the entrance and exit of the city. It was an exceptionally right decision for us, tourism professionals, to have a nine-day holiday and to prevent traffic congestion at the entrances and exits of the city. We can say that tourism professionals are having a double holiday.” İşler added that the occupancy rate in accommodation facilities is approaching 100 percent.
The most popular region, Aegean Noting that the Aegean is the most popular region in domestic tourism, İşler said, "Because Aegean has a product range that appeals to everyone. Especially the lifestyle of the Aegean creates a great attraction. The lifestyle, which has a lively life by the sea until night hours, is a product that is very popular and demanded by the domestic tourists in the domestic market. Here, in addition to the lifestyle of the people of Izmir, the product range that appeals to everyone increases the attraction and attractiveness of the Aegean. Everyone has the opportunity to stay, whether for a thousand liras or a thousand euros. In this respect, the Aegean is in great demand in the domestic market due to its rich diversity.
"There is a 75 percent increase in Italians" Emphasizing the importance of the course of the foreign market after the domestic market, İşler continued as follows: "The reservation flow, which was heavy until before the election, started to return to normal after the election. Especially in our two main markets, Germany and Russia, reservation flows began to increase. The increase in room reservations in 2023 in Italy, where we are in the same bowl in the Mediterranean region, is also noteworthy. Compared to last year, there is a 75 percent increase in Italians. In this regard, we gradually increased our diversity in the tourism market and started new increases in other markets besides the two main markets we depend on. While we have set our target that '2023 will be the best year of all times', it seems that the holiday will be extremely fruitful. Currently, the occupancy rates have approached 100 percent during Eid al-Adha. We are currently seeing a fast sales chart with last minute sales. Within these 100 percent occupancy rates, we can say that our citizens make reservations for the last places in almost every region.”
Reservation warning to citizens Stating that citizens should definitely make their reservations through well-known agencies, İşler made the following warnings: "They can also call the hotel and confirme. Let them check whether this agency works with the hotel. Because we see that hackers defraud our citizens by making fake websites every holiday, especially in residence, villa and hotel rentals. We would like to warn them once again on the occasion of the holiday."
"The best year of all time" Stating that 2022 went down in history as a year in which all-time records were broken in tourism, and the reservation data showed that 2023 will be a year in which these records will be renewed, Mehmet İşler said, “In 2023, Turkish tourism is breaking a new record that will perhaps capture the best year of all time. We started the season with a 16 percent increase in Turkey compared to last year's May, and a 24 percent increase in the first 5 months. This is a great indicator that 2023 will be better than 2022 and 2019. Here, Russia and Germany, our most important markets, share the first two places one after the other. But it seems that the booking flow will continue after the earthquake, the election and the rapid warming of the weather after the exams. It looks like we will achieve our target of 60 million tourists and 55 billion dollars of input by the end of the year. As you all know, Turkey, which received 55 million tourists and 45 billion dollars last year, will reach the target of 60 million tourists and 55 billion dollars, which was determined as the 2023 tourism strategy this year. This will take its place in history as the best year of all time in Turkish tourism history.”