Some hotels slash rates amid sluggish tourist season

ISTANBUL

Some hotels in Türkiye’s popular holiday destinations have slashed their prices by up to 50 percent as occupancy rates remain low during what is supposed to be a peak tourist season.

Hoteliers say they need to offer large discounts despite the high costs of running their businesses to stay afloat.

They are hoping to return to regular rates, saying that those discounts will probably be offered only for two weeks.

Prices normally go up during the peak season, including July and August, but this time around hotels are experiencing fewer visitors, said Hamit Kuk, an adviser at the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB).

“That is why hotels are offering those discounts. Travel agencies talk with hoteliers and decide how much discount should be offered to attract tourists, depending on the occupancy rate,” Kuk said. “The higher the occupancy rate, the higher the discount.”

Hotels and travel agencies widely use social media platforms to advertise their offers.

Representatives from the tourism industry, however, voiced pessimism that those discounts may not be enough to boost hotel occupancy rates. Lower prices offered by hotels only provide a temporary solution since they will last only for two weeks at most, they noted.

Discounts may continue well into August if they prove popular among holidaymakers, they said.

Hotel prices went up due to inflation and rising costs, but at the start of the tourism season, some hotels set “exorbitant prices,” according to Kuk.

The occupancy rate is presently at around 60 to 70 percent, he said.

“Holidaymakers are already convinced that prices are too high. Discounts will probably not help hotels lure more visitors this season…They [hotels] should have “consumer-friendly prices” next year,” Kuk said.

Some hoteliers are still hopeful that customers will keep coming even though prices are high, he added. “That’s why the discount period is short.”

For instance, staying at a hotel for 4 days in the popular resort town of Kemer for two people would previously cost 18,000 Turkish Liras. But after hotels started to offer discounts the price declined to 12,600 liras.

In another tourist destination Marmaris, a hotel slashed its price from 46,000 liras to 31,400 liras.

Hoteliers are cutting prices even though it means they will make losses, said Mehmet İşler, the president of the Aegean Touristic Enterprises and Accommodations Association (ETİK).

Euro 2024, the upcoming Olympics in Paris, the decline in the purchasing power of local tourists and Airbnb-like short-rentals to holidaymakers are all impacting the occupation rates, according to İşler.

“We are only trying to survive,” he said, adding that high hotel prices result from rising costs.