Hotel occupancy at nearly 100 pct in some Aegean resorts

MUĞLA

The occupancy rate at hotels in some resort towns in the Aegean region has hit nearly 100 percent thanks to the New Year holiday.

The 3-day holiday lured people to go on vacation, said Mehmet İşler, the president of the Aegean Touristic Enterprises and Accommodations Association (ETİK).

The hotel occupancy rate was around 80 percent two weeks ago, but now almost all accommodation facilities are fully booked, he said.

Kuşadası, a popular holiday hotspot in the province of Aydın, will welcome not only local but also foreign tourists, according to Serdar Köroğlu, the president of the hoteliers’ association in the town.

“Almost all hotels here will be full during the holiday. Most of our foreign guests will be from Romania, the Netherlands but we will also host some Indian tourists,” he said.

But in the northwestern province of Edirne, the picture is different.

There will be fewer people from Bulgaria and Greece spending the New Year’s holiday in the city, said businessowners.

“Last year restaurants and hotels were fully booked, but this is not happening this year,” said Ferşit Güngör, who runs a restaurant in the town.

Businessowners link fewer reservations for the New Year’s holiday to higher prices, particularly meat and alcoholic beverages.

But, Yağmur Islattı Aydın, who owns a business on one of the busiest streets in Edirne, said that the number of tourists visiting the city has been on the decline over the past month. “Apparently, inflation has started to affect them.”

From January to November, some 4.4 million foreigners visited Edirne, accounting for more than 9 percent of all foreign tourist arrivals in Türkiye.

Shoppers from Greece and Bulgaria travel to Edirne, particularly on weekends, to take advantage of weaker Turkish Liras.