Some 200 hotels in Antalya host quake survivors

Salim Uzun - ANTALYA

Many hotels in the southern province of Antalya, the capital of tourism, embraced quake survivors after the earthquake disasters that affected 11 provinces.

A total of 200 accommodation centers across the city are hosting 85,000 disaster victims.

Antalya Provincial Directorate of Tourism and tourism associations, worked intensively to provide shelter to people in districts with high bed capacity such as Alanya, Manavgat and Kemer, since the first week of the quakes.

Kaan Kavaloğlu, president of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers Association (AKTOB), said that all hotels in Antalya mobilized for earthquake survivors, along with district governorships, municipalities and city residents.

He noted that as the tourism season is approaching, they had to make some arrangements and the number of quake survivors they are hosting has dropped to around 10,000 people or maybe even less, yet the process is continuing without any problems.

Explaining that Alanya district has faced a serious wave of migration immediately after the earthquakes, Burhan Sili, president of Alanya Touristic Operators Association, said that they have hosted over 33,000 quake survivors.

“It was not easy to overcome this influx without any problems. We created a coordination center. All capacities including lodgings were used,” Sili said.

He pointed out that they made deals with food factories and catering companies for hostels and apart-hotels and started to serve meals to 1,500 people daily.

He said that they also determined a budget for the quake survivors who would like to relocate to other provinces outside Antalya. An agreement with the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB) was made for their transportation.

Industry officials stated that the accommodation of quake survivors (based on the number of overnight stays) has cost approximately 622.2 million Turkish Liras (30 million euros) throughout Antalya.

Provincial Director of Tourism Candemir Zoroğlu noted that Antalya has done an amazing job in meeting the accommodation and personal needs of the earthquake survivors.