Turkey welcomes back tourists, hopes to recoup losses – KIRO 7 News Seattle

ANTALYA, Turkey – (AP) – At the Ananas Hotel on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, rooms were cleaned, the pool filled and sunbeds removed as staff prepared to welcome Russian tourists back after nearly 20 months of pandemic closure.

Hotels in Turkey’s popular Antalya region are ready to reopen after Moscow announced it would lift flight restrictions to Turkey. Tourism officials hope that their sector – an important part of the Turkish economy – can now make up some of its losses.

“We have been closed for about 20 months. We were very pleased about the lifting of flight restrictions through Russia, ”said Murat Ozbalat, General Manager of the Ananas Hotel in the resort of Alanya. Around 80% of his guests are Russians, he said. “The additional gradual lifting of restrictions from Europe gives us hope for the remainder of the 2021 season.”

While many Turkish companies suffered from the pandemic, tourism was wiped out: in 2019, it brought in $ 34.5 billion and nearly 52 million visitors. In 2020, visitor numbers were down 69% and revenue fell to about $ 12 billion, according to the Department of Tourism.

“We’re talking about an … industry that has been idle for a year,” says Hamit Kuk from the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies. “The loss is more than $ 20 billion.”

Turkey relies on tourism for its foreign exchange needs at a time when it is hit by double-digit inflation and a falling currency, exacerbated by the pandemic.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly said that this year’s season is crucial.

“We will ensure that tourism professionals can use at least the second half of the 2021 season,” he said on Saturday at the inauguration of a hotel in Antalya. “We want to get a much larger share of the tourism pie” and at the same time compensate for losses.

German Renata Malzahn, who is vacationing at the Side resort, known for its ancient ruins overlooking the beach, said she is aware that Turkey needs visitors.

“I think the easing of travel restrictions to Turkey was overdue,” she said after taking a traditional scrub and bath in her hotel’s Turkish hammam. “If you relax (travel) restrictions vis-à-vis other countries … you shouldn’t exclude Turkey, because here too people urgently need visitors like us, otherwise the country will collapse.”

A springtime COVID-19 spike in Turkey, as daily infections hit a record high of 63,000, sparked travel warnings. The UK and France put Turkey on their red lists mandating quarantine for returning tourists, and Russia suspended flights in April.

Fear of another missed season prompted the government to exclude tourists from the so-called “full lockdown” for Turks.

Tourism workers were given vaccination priority and the Ministry of Tourism shared a promotional video of masked workers saying, “Have fun, I am vaccinated.” The video was removed after a public outcry on social media, with some people saying it portrayed the Turks as subservient to foreign visitors.

With a daily infection rate of 5,645 daily infections on a 7-day average, some countries have reassessed their travel warnings this month. France and Germany removed Turkey from the high-risk list and Russia resumed flights on Tuesday – with Turkish TV channels reporting live on the Russians’ first landing.

The industry hopes that the UK, Turkey’s third largest tourism market, will also remove the country from the red list.

Turkish civil aviation announced its requirements on Jan.

Jens Brauer, another German tourist, said he felt safe in Turkey. “They do a lot (in terms of security) in the hotel, especially keeping safe distances and wearing masks,” he said.

However, Turkey’s pressure on foreign tourists could pose risks to the local population. Although hospital stays and deaths have decreased, and vaccinations have gained momentum, only 17% of the population are fully vaccinated. Tourists from countries where a more contagious variant is spreading could hit Turkey. In Russia, daily infections have skyrocketed and vaccination rates are low.

__

Zeynep Bilginsoy reported from Istanbul. Robert Badendieck in Istanbul and Suzan Fraser in Ankara have contributed to this.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in any way without permission.