Gezi, Syria affect Turkey’s hotels, but recovery in sight

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The guest occupancy rate of the Les Ottomans Hotel fell by 60 percent this summer from the previous year. Company photo

Turkey’s tourism sector was damaged in the summer season first by the Gezi protests and then the talks for intervention in Syria, but it has started to slightly recover over the last month, said a sector representative.

Mehmet Kırklar, the General Manager of the Les Ottomans Hotel, told the Hürriyet Daily News that Turkey had a restless appearance because of these incidents, particularly in Istanbul and southern provinces.

“Before the Gezi protests [which began at the end of May], Istanbul’s tourism showed a performance with the number of reservations and accommodations above expectations,” he said, adding that most of the reservations were canceled after Gezi.

Kırklar stated that the month of Ramadan, which was between July 9 and Aug. 7, also reduced their guest occupancy rate because, while 80-90 percent of hotel guests were foreigners, Arab tourists made up the major part of them. He added that after the month of Ramadan, the discussions surrounding the Syria War negatively affected tourism in Istanbul.

“The guest occupancy rate of our hotel fell by 60 percent this summer from the previous period a year earlier,” he said.

‘Turkey’s leading boutique hotel’

Kırklar stated the Les Ottomans, a luxury boutique hotel that has 10 suit rooms, hadn’t opened branches abroad yet. The hotel’s vision is to offer individual services to its guests and promote Turkish culture, rather than making profit, he said, noting they wouldn’t expand abroad until they received a project that would enable them to maintain their concept.

Also, Ahu Aysal Kerimoğlu, the owner of the hotel, visits different hotels around the world with the aim of enriching their concept.

The hotel was chosen as “Europe’s Leading All Suite Hotel” and “Turkey’s Leading Boutique Hotel” by the World Travel Awards this year.