The new Turkish tourism minister Mahir ?nal aims to save the season with flight subsidies and more marketing activities but German tour operators want more action in the face of a collapse in bookings after the deadly terror attack in Istanbul.
New bookings for summer holidays in Turkey have slumped by 50-60% compared to this time last year since the suicide bombing in Istanbul, which killed 10 German tourists, according to several German tour operators on the sidelines of a meeting with the minister in Frankfurt yesterday (January 20).
Flight subsidies up to $6,000
?nal told journalists that terrorism is a worldwide problem and “we will do everything to avoid the impression that Turkey is a risky travel destination”. He announced that airlines would receive flight subsidies of up to $6,000 per flight to five tourist destinations in April and May, while marketing activities would be stepped up with tour operators.
But tour operators who met the minister urged that they should receive the subsidies as they contract capacity from the leisure airlines. A subsidy per passenger would also make more sense than per flight, they said.
Decisive high season
Condor chief Ralf Teckentrup was sceptical about the measures, pointing out that the high season in July and August was decisive. If bookings do not pick up soon, then German leisure airlines will have to start reducing their planned capacity to Antalya and Dalaman, and switch flights to other destinations instead, he warned.
German tourism representatives agreed that Turkey must take action soon. With five million tourists a year, the country cannot be replaced as a destination, especially as Spain and Greece are likely to be booked out much sooner than usual this year due to high demand from other European markets.
Unusual marketing measure
Meanwhile, specialist tour operator Bentour is launching an unusual marketing measure to promote holidays in Turkey. Together with the tourism ministry, it will send the ‘Bentour Turkey Express’ train across Europe to promote the country’s tourism regions, with each of the 20 wagons dedicated to one specific region. The train will tour Europe as a mobile exhibition for three months from March onwards, with two-day stops at major railway stations.
Bentour itself has reported a 7% increase in revenues for last year, thanks to the launch of destinations such as Portugal, Greece and Spain to compensate for weaker Turkey sales which declined by 9%. “The new destinations now make up 40% of our total programme and well represented in the turnover figures,” said managing director Deniz Ugur.
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