EasyJet CEO reports strong demand for Turkey

LONDON

Britain’s low-cost carrier EasyJet has said there is strong demand for Turkey this summer, as Italy has decided to ease travel restrictions for Turkey starting February.

Turkey is a major destination for British holidaymakers. Earlier this month Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said he expects some 2.5 million Britons to visit the country.
Easyjet will operate its largest number of flights between the U.K. and beach destinations this summer as coronavirus restrictions ease, The Independent quoted the carrier’s CEO, Johan Lundgren, as saying on Jan. 27.
“With sales performing very well, the low-cost airline’s capacity compared with 2019 levels will be more than doubled on routes to Turkey,” Lundgren said.

In 2019, a little more than 2.5 million Britons vacationed in Turkey. However, the number of British visitors dropped to 804,000 in the following year as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted travel, dealing a blow to the global tourism industry.
From January to November this year, Turkey welcomed 340,000 British holidaymakers, which accounted for 1.5 percent of foreign tourist arrivals in this period.

Meanwhile, as part of its decision to ease travel restrictions from February, the Italian government allowed visits with tourism purpose to Turkey. Previously, it only allowed business trips and health-related visits to the country
But Italian travelers will still need to provide a proof that they are vaccinated against COVID-19 or they have previously had the infection.

In the first eleven months of 2021, 105,000 Italian tourists arrived in Turkey, according to data from the Turkish Tourism Ministry.
In 2020, Turkey attracted some 73,000 Italian tourists, down from 377,000 people in the previous year. In 2018, 284,000 Italian nationals visited Turkey.
Ersoy said in an interview earlier this month that Turkey aims to generate $35 billion in tourism revenues in 2022.
Early holiday reservations already increased by 65 percent compared with the last year, he also said.