#President Of The South Aegean Touristic Hoteliers And Operators Association

The interest of Polish tourists to Muğla is increasing

Poles made up 120 thousand 328 of the 1 million 779 thousand 356 tourists who came to Muğla, which has important tourism centers in Turkey, in 7 months. Muğla serves domestic and foreign guests with its facilities with a bed capacity of 340 thousand. Hosting millions of tourists every year, the city continues to host the majority of British tourists coming to Turkey. Tourism professionals operating in the city continue to work in alternative markets to get a larger share of the tourism cake. It is noteworthy that the interest of Polish tourists to Muğla has increased in recent years. According to the information compiled by the AA correspondent from the data of the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, 1 million 779 thousand 356 tourists visited Muğla in the 7-month period of the year. The most visited countries were England with 773 thousand 909 people, Russia with 210 thousand 8 visitors, Poland with 120 thousand 328 tourists, Germany with 100 thousand 787 people, and the Netherlands with 45 thousand 439 tourists. 528 thousand 885 tourists from other countries came to the city. In the same period last year, 90 thousand 115 Polish and 109 thousand 533 German tourists came to the city. While the number of German tourists decreased by 8 thousand 746 in the first 7 months of this year, the increase in the number of Polish tourists by 30 thousand 213 draws the attention. Last year, 219 thousand 563 German and 173 thousand 782 Polish tourists came to the city by the end of the year. The number of tourists increased by approximately 19 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. In the same period of last year, 1 million 501 thousand 43 people visited Muğla, which has famous tourism centers such as Bodrum, Marmaris and Fethiye. Accordingly, there was an increase of approximately 19 percent in the number of tourists this year compared to the same period last year. Suat Esin, Chairman of the Marmaris Regional Representation Board of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the tourism season has been hectic. Expressing that they expect the increase in the number of tourists to be reflected in the spending limits, Esin said, "We hope that the next September and October will also be good." Mentioning that daily house rentals also affect the occupancy rate in hotels, Esin said, "The biggest market in Marmaris is England. Brits who like to be free and independent prefer apartments. That's why it attracts attention from England. We must not miss out on the British tourists we have. There is a strong, special bond between Marmaris and England." WHY IS THE NUMBER OF POLISH TOURISTS INCREASING? Drawing attention to the increase in the Polish market, Esin said, "There are studies on alternative markets. A good example of this is Poland. Institutions, agencies, hotels work at fairs. This provides added value." Esin stated that after the forest fire in Rhodes, some tour operators headed to Marmaris. Mustafa Deliveli, President of the South Aegean Touristic Hoteliers and Operators Association, also pointed out that tourism is rapidly recovering after the Kovid-19 outbreak. Expressing that the number of foreign tourists this year is pleasing, Deliveli said; "Compared to the 2022 season, the number of all foreign visitors increased by 19 percent and in the UK market by 14 percent. Our expectation is that Dalaman Airport will exceed 1 million UK visitors in the 2023 season and reach the highest number in history. This situation will largely cover the market loss in Russia and Ukraine. The start of the season in mid-March and its extension until mid-November contributes significantly to achieving the occupancy rates we desire.”