Eid holiday boosts tourism activity

ISTANBUL

The Eid al-Fitr holiday is giving a boost to Türkiye’s tourism activity as bookings by holidaymakers rise 40 to 45 percent this year compared with last year.

The Eid marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Eid holiday starts on April 21 and ends on April 23, but families are merging a short school break and Eid to go on a long nine-day vacation.

Tourism activity was slow in the past two months due to the devastating earthquakes that jolted several provinces in Türkiye’s south.

“The tremors hit the entire tourism industry; bookings declined until mid-March. But new reservations made in April are likely to compensate for the losses in February and March,” said Kaan Karayal, the board chair of Tatilsepeti, a leading travel portal.

Holidaymakers’ preferred destinations for the Eid holiday will be the province of Antalya and resort towns on the Aegean coast, according to Karayal.

People will also be traveling to the Balkan countries and Sharm al-Sheikh because they are not required to have visas to go to those places, he added.

Popular destinations for cultural tours are Cappadocia, Safranbolu and towns around the province of İzmir, said Kemal Çubuk from Tatilbudur, another travel platform.

Tourism in quake-hit region

Meanwhile, hoteliers in the earthquake-hit provinces said the disaster not only disrupted industries but also tourism activity there.
Some 80 percent of tours, planned before the tremors, have been canceled, said Halil Kılınç, a representative for the southeastern region of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB).

“People were scared. Tours were canceled because it was not clear in what situation hotels in those provinces were,” Kılınç explained.
Even though the devastated areas are not on the tour routes, travelers were still worried, he said.

Those who still plan to visit the region under package tours are asking for documents from hotels and restaurants proving they are safe, according to Kılınç.

Around 90 of the hotels in the region either remain intact or suffered only minor damage, he said. “Most of the hotels can easily accommodate visitors. But after-shock tremors keep people anxious. We do not expect tourism activity to pick up until November.”

Package tours were a lifeline for the local tourism industry, Kılınç said. “Those tours were very popular with domestic and foreign tourists. If tourism activities stop, the region will receive a big blow.”