The average daily sales of summer tours to Turkey do not show negative dynamics. According to the federal network of travel agencies “1001 Tour”, now the Turkish resorts of organized tourists account for 65% of all tour bookings for the summer season. Leading tour operators in Turkey still do not see cancellations of booked tours to Turkey. Experts spoke about the current situation.

After the tragic events of February 6 in Turkey, in the southeastern regions of which a powerful earthquake occurred, and now rescue work continues, a number of telegram channels immediately began to predict Turkey almost “the collapse of the tourism market '.

However, the real state of affairs in the market does not confirm such forecasts. Both on the day of the earthquake, February 6, and all the next day, February 7, none of the largest players in the direction (ANEX Tour, PEGAS Touristik, Coral Travel, FUN & SUN, Intourist) noted the facts of cancellation of booked tours to Turkey – neither to Istanbul nor to Antalya.

“There are no cancellations. There are only calls from agencies with clarification of information on the situation in the resorts of Turkey,” PEGAS Touristik explained on the evening of February 7. The same was confirmed by other companies.

Contrary to fears, the leading tour operators in Turkey did not decrease the average daily sales for the summer compared to last week.

This is also confirmed by the tourist retail: according to the data of the federal network of travel agencies “1001 Tour”, as of February 8, the share of Turkish resorts booked for the summer season (May-October) is 65% and the company’s experts do not see a trend towards its decrease now.

“Booking to the depth – April, May, summer, we have no changes, the pace of sales is the same. There is a slight decrease in the nearest departures due to the information background,” ANEX Tour reported on February 8.

“The average daily number of summer tours sold to Turkey remains at the same level. We keep all the previously announced flight programs to Turkey – we now have 15 cities of departure to Antalya and 3 cities of departure to Dalaman, GDS tours to Istanbul,” Intourist said.

On tours for the next dates, a number of players (but not all) note a slight decrease in volumes. On the evening of February 7, ANEX Tour and Intourist saw a slight slowdown in sales of tours to Turkey with departures for the coming dates, the companies explain this with an alarming infophone.

“We expect that by the end of the week these bookings (for the nearest dates) will go at the same pace,” Intourist believes. In addition, both this company and the 1001 Tour network of travel agencies believe that, based on sales data for 1-2 days, it is now incorrect to seriously talk about some kind of obvious downward trend in the entire market.

As for summer holidays in Turkey, experts believe that Russian tourists have managed to understand the situation and analyze the available information, which affects their calm behavior regarding summer bookings.

It turned out that Russian tourists for the most part understand the geography of Turkey better than many authors of panic theses, and understand that the resort areas, firstly, are not affected by the elements, and secondly, they are far from the South -Eastern Anatolia, where a tragedy broke out with numerous casualties.

TOURISTS UNDERSTAND WHERE THEY GO TO HOLIDAY AND MAKE A DECISION EASILY

“Turkey is, without exaggeration, a very large country. Those areas in which we now see a huge tragedy due to a large-scale earthquake are extremely interesting in terms of excursion tourism. But earlier they were mostly visited only by rare Russian individual tourists-enthusiasts. Tour operators began to try to put experimental sightseeing tours to Mesopotamia only starting from 2021, and the first races in such tours this year were scheduled for April-May. And Antalya, Istanbul, the Aegean coast are completely separate regions of mass tourism, far removed from the earthquake areas, they were not affected by the elements: not a single hotel was destroyed, not a single tourist was injured. Yes, the echoes of the shocks in the southeast were felt in Antalya on February 6 in the afternoon, but they were noticed even in Sochi, and these are not independent earthquakes, but just a weak echo. The resort areas are seismically calm now. Our tourists are far from stupid people, they know how to search for information and find confirmation of the safety of their summer vacation, ”explains one of the representatives of a large tour operator.

He also draws attention to the fact that all information about tremors in Turkey can be obtained on the official website of the Turkish Center for Monitoring and Evaluation of Earthquakes and Tsunamis. The list, which is updated in real time with the indication of the city and province, is a long list of various tremors, but none of them applies to Antalya, much less to the areas to the west of it. Recall that the earthquake on February 6 happened along the junction of two plates – the Arabian and Anatolian, all the destruction is just on this fault. Antalya and other seaside resorts in Turkey are located much to the west.

“Both the media and all commentators of the situation on the market need to understand where exactly in Turkey the Russians have a rest. And these are, in fact, only three regions – in the south it is the province of Antalya with its resorts on the Mediterranean Sea, in the west the Aegean region – the resorts of Bodrum, Dalaman, Fethiye, Marmaris, Izmir, etc. And, of course, Istanbul in the northwest. The earthquake also occurred in the regions of South-Eastern Anatolia (Turkish Mesopotamia). From Gaziantep, the epicenter of the terrible earthquake on February 6, to Antalya – 600 kilometers in a straight line, along the roads through a large mountain range that stands in the way – much more. And to Istanbul and the resorts of the Aegean Sea – and does 900-1100 kilometers. The resorts and regions of Mesopotamia, where the earthquake occurred, are geographically completely different, relatively unrelated regions of Turkey. And most of our tourists are well aware of these things when they buy a summer tour to this country,” says a representative of another company.

“It would be rather strange to assume that, say, foreign tourists would stop booking tours to Moscow or St. Petersburg if, God forbid, an earthquake occurred in the Caucasus. These regions are far from each other. With Turkey, exactly the same logic, ”comments a representative of another market player.

HOW MUCH TOURS TO TURKEY COST FOR FEBRUARY 2023 WITH THE CAPTURE OF HOLIDAYS

The tragic events in the south-east of the country did not affect prices either. All interviewed tour operators confirmed that the prices for packages, ground handling and hotels in the resorts of Antalya and Istanbul did not change. Neither for the summer, nor for the next dates, neither upwards nor downwards. Thus, idle discussions in social networks about a possible increase in prices, or vice versa, discounts on holidays in Antalya due to an earthquake in Turkish Mesopotamia, have no basis.

Now it is low season in the seaside resorts of Antalya, and prices without additional discounts are quite interesting.

Thus, Intourist gives an example of a tour with a departure on February 15 to the Lake River Side Hotel &Spa (Titreyengol). Price with flight, 7 nights accommodation on the all-inclusive basis and including fuel surcharge – 75,445 rubles. for two.

At PEGAS Touristik, St. Valentine's Day tour packages with a departure on February 12 for 7 nights in five-star hotels in Antalya on an all-inclusive basis are now as follows:

• To the Limak Limra Hotel & Resort 5* – from RUB 84,623 for two
• To Porto Bello Hotel Resort & Spa 5* – from RUB 91,996 for two
• To the Kaya Belek 5 * hotel – from 97,704 rubles. for two
• To the Ic Hotels Green Palace 5 * hotel – from 100,605 rubles. for two

With ANEX Tour you can relax in Antalya in February on holidays at the following prices for a tour package with a flight to premium hotels:

• Tour on February 14 for 5 nights to the Rixos Premium Belek 5* hotel – from 149 thousand rubles for two.
• Tour for February 23 for 6 nights, to the Titanic Deluxe Lara 5 * hotel – from 120 thousand rubles for two.

You can celebrate February 14 in Istanbul with ANEX Tour in Istanbul (tour for 7 nights at the Art City Hotel 3 *) from 106 thousand rubles. for two (flight by Aeroflot).

Prices for “romantic” Istanbul (tour packages with a departure on February 13 for 3 nights with breakfast) from PEGAS Touristik are as follows:

• To Burckin Hotel 4* Boutique – from 59 521 RUB. for two
• To the Silvana Hotel 4* Boutique – from 60,735 rubles. for two
• To the Clarion Hotel Mahmutbey 5 * – from 66,647 rubles. for two
• To the Ramada Plaza by Wyndham Istanbul Sultanahmet 5 * hotel – from 73,536 rubles. for two

ATOR Bulletin Editorial

Photo: ATOR em>