Hotel occupancy rates plunge below 57 percent in Turkey amid foreign arrival squeeze

While hotel occupancy rates declined by 19.1 percent in May to 56.5 percent compared to the same month of 2015 due to rising security concerns and the diplomatic crisis with Russia, Belgium saw a 20.8 percent year-on-year drop after the suicide bombings in Brussels in March. 

Hotel occupancy rates in Turkey fell by 16.2 percent to 51.7 percent in the first five months of the year compared to the same month of 2015, ranking them worst across Europe, according to data compiled by TÜROB from STR Global’s figures.

Average daily room prices also declined by 33 percent to 83.20 euros in May compared to the same month of 2015. 

Hotels in Istanbul were worst hit, with hotel occupancy rates in Turkey’s largest city declining by 26.1 percent to 55.4 percent in May compared to the same month of 2015. Istanbul was also the city that saw the second biggest plunge in hotel occupancy rates in Europe after Brussels. 

While average daily room prices declined by 24.4 percent to 105.10 euros in Istanbul in May, average revenue per available room also decreased to 58.20 euros, marking a 44.1 percent drop from the same period of 2015. 

Hotel occupancy rates in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya also decreased by 9.4 percent to 57.8 percent in May compared to the same month of 2015, marking a 32 percent decrease in average daily prices to 66.4 euros. 

“Our loss in our revenue exceeded 30 percent, marking a quite serious threshold, especially for Istanbul. When we expect some improvement in our business and hope to forget bad things, something worse erupts. We saw a slight rise in reservations at the end of May, but the subsequent bomb attack in the Vezneciler neighborhood of central Istanbul ruined everything once again. We have taken almost zero reservations since this attack, which happened on June 6. As long as we don’t establish the image of a secure and safe country, it will be quite unlikely for us to lure tourists even if we slash room prices,” said TÜROB President Timur Bayındır.