Some 3 million people traveled during Eid holiday

ISTANBUL

Around 3 million people traveled during the 9-day-long Eid al-Adha holiday with hotel occupancy rates reaching up to 90 percent in resort towns, according to a business group.

“Most of those 3 million travelers spent their holiday in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions,” said Ferit Turgut, head of the Mediterranean Region branch of TÜRSAB.

The local tourism industry did not make a good start to 2022 but domestic tourism activity gained traction after the schools were closed, Turgut added.

“People waited for the Eid break to take a vacation. Last-minute holiday bookings increased after the second day of Eid. Presently vacationers mostly prefer marine tourism,” he said.

The occupancy rates at the hotels on the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts, which are known for their high-quality services, hit 100 percent, while others, which offer more affordable rates, saw their occupancy rates at 90 percent, according to Turgut.

He also said that more than 9 million tourists are expected to visit Antalya, a major holiday destination for local and international tourists on the Mediterranean coast, this year.

“Germans compensate for the Russian market,” Turgut added.

He recalled that Russians and Ukrainians used to account for between 50 percent to 60 percent of foreign tourists visiting Antalya and said that tourist arrivals from those two countries are not as strong as they were before.

“But it is promising that other tourist markets are reviving again.”

Turgut, however, warned that the new surge in COVID-19 cases in Europe may spell trouble for the Turkish tourism industry. He is yet optimistic that the vaccinations will prevent a worst-case scenario.

More than 1 million Germans visited Antalya since the start of the year, over-taking Russians after five years.

The number of German tourists is expected to exceed 1.5 million in August, September, October and November, last week said Recep Yavuz, head of the Antalya City Council Tourism Working Group.

The total number of German visitors will probably soar to 3 million by the end of the year, he predicted