Turkey: Russian tourists save season

ANKARA – Turkish tourism, which had its brightest days in 1996 and 1997 then deteriorated in following years, due to terrorism and a lack of publicity after 1999’s Great Marmara Earthquake. Fears arose this year in the tourism sector about the U.S.-led war on Iraq, but the rise in Russian tourists saved the season.

According to records from the airport in Antalya, Turkey’s premier resort region, the number of Russian tourists rose by 50 percent in the first nine months of the year.

The number of Russian tourists visiting Antalya is 716,704 in the period between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 whereas this number was only 495,410 last year.

Despite this rise, the number of German tourists, whose percentage among the total number of tourists has always been the highest, declined about 20 percent in the same period of the year.

Of all the tourists, who visited Antalya this year, the largest number, after Russians and Germans, came from Holland, Austria and Israel respectively.

Mediterranean Hoteliers Union Chairman Osman Ayik, interviewed by an Anatolia Agency reporter, noted this rise was very important and this rise will continue in the upcoming years.

Speaking on the reason for the current rise in Russian tourists, Ayik said: "The European tourists are too sensitive to any possible developments in the world. Last year, Sept. 11 events decreased the number of European tourists. Russians are not so sensitive on these events as Europeans. Since we are aware of this fact, we conducted effective publicity in Russia. And here we have the results now."

Ayik, mentioning the decrease in number of German tourists, stated: "Germans are our permanent guests. This decrease should not mislead people. Germans are the most important and the biggest market for Turkish tourism. We cannot ignore this market, we will be making efforts to increase the number of German tourists."

An increase of 43 percent of Greek tourists spending their holidays in Turkey has been achieved this year.

Izmir Chamber of Commerce President Ekrem Demirtas noted the rise was due to the favorable atmosphere between Turkey and Greece, who have been historical enemies. He added if current obstacles in transportation were eliminated, this number would further increase.