Among the European tourists, the popularity of Turkey as a holiday destination has increased in recent weeks after Germany and Britain announced a travel warning for Spain, shoving more travelers to opt for safer options.
From July onward, the popular tourist destinations of Turkey, including the southern resort city of Antalya and southwestern Bodrum, started welcoming overseas visitors with the recommencement of flights from Ukraine and the U.K. With this, arrivals got boosted up following Moscow’s decision to permit Russian tourists to travel to Antalya, Dalaman and Bodrum hassle-free. Now, tourism representatives expect partial elevation of Germany’s prior travel warning for Turkey to increase the arrival number even more.
The industry is quite confident that tourists from Germany and the UK, who had to call off their travel plans to Spain, would choose for Turkey’s Mediterranean coast as an alternative.
Germany followed Britain’s footsteps on Friday, as the country declared all of Spain a coronavirus risk zone after experiencing a spike in cases.
On Tuesday, NBK Touristic General Manager and City Council Tourism Working Group Chairman, Recep Yavuz, informed the Turkish language daily, Güneş, that now tourists from Europe have very limited options for traveling abroad because of the restrictions.
“Among these options, Turkey is the safest and closest one. If there is no setback or sudden rise in cases, European tourists will head to Antalya,” he said.
Yavuz observed that 325,000 tourists came to Antalya within the initial two weeks of August, including 106,000 Russians, 74,000 Ukrainians and 48,000 Germans. “Around 20,000 Russians arrive daily right now,” he added.
Tags: Turkey, Fresh warnings, Restrictions
