Safety Fears Drive Balkan Tourists from Turkey

Analysis 08 Jun 16

2016-06-08 11:04:19

A spate of bombings by Islamic State and Kurdistan Workers' Party is wreaking havoc with Turkey's tourist sector, prompting holidaymakers to look elsewhere.

Hamdi Firat Buyuk

BIRN

Ankara

Tourists from the Balkans - like those from Western Europe - are dumping plans to go on holiday in Turkey, as a spate of terrorist attacks by the PKK, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, and ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, undermine its appeal as a safe destination.

Turkey was one of the world's six biggest tourist destinations in 2014, drawing millions of holidaymakers to its Aegean and Mediterranean beaches, the former imperial city of Istanbul, and to cities and monuments dating from the Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman empires.

According to the Turkish Ministry for Culture and Tourism, the country hosted 36.8 million international tourists in 2014 and 36.2 million in 2015. Total revenue from tourism in Turkey was $34.3 billion in 2014 (about €30.6 billion) falling slightly to $31.5 billion (€28.1 billion) in 2015, an 8-per-cent decrease.

But the fall in visitor numbers has accelerated sharply since 2015 as conflict continues to grip the region and the numbers for this year make grim reading.

As summer approaches, many more tourists are expected to choose safer countries as destinations, with Spain in particular likely to benefit from Turkey's loss.

According to Turizmdatabank, tourism is in freefall in the coastal region of Antalya, which hosts the most international tourists. Compared with 2014, the city saw a decrease of 20 per cent in visitor numbers in March, of 41 per cent in April, and 47 per cent in the first half of May.

Overall, while the first five months of 2014 saw 1.7 million tourists, that number had fallen to only 1 million for the first five months of 2016.

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Source: Safety Fears Drive Balkan Tourists from Turkey