With Turkey becoming expensive even for foreign tourists due to rising costs and the attacks made by countries such as Egypt and Morocco in tourism, the sector could not get the expected yield from the season this year, while occupancy in hotels remained at 50 percent even in July.
Especially after the big drop in the number of Russian tourists, tourism sector representatives stated that the reservations have turned to the last minute and said that they do not know what will happen in August and that it is unknown after the next three weeks. Stating that Antalya will close July averages with 45-50 percent occupancy rates, Serdar Karcılıoğlu, President of Bodrum Professional Hotel Managers Association, pointed out that especially small and medium-sized hotels started to cut prices to save their costs, which could have dangerous consequences in terms of quality, and made the following statements to Tourism FM:
''4-5 star hotels are under the guidance of tour operators and they are giving 65-70 percent discounts to increase their occupancy. Because they need hot money. This increases fake alcohol and counterfeit food in hotels that offer prices below cost. The fact that Bodrum is crowded is not reflected in the hotels. This year, the number of tourists coming from Russia for vacation cannot be 2 million because the ruble has lost a lot of value. Our dollar prices have also increased due to costs and this has driven away Russian tourists. Egypt has become a cheaper alternative for Russians. Hotels will necessarily reduce employment. We cannot see ahead of us. The very few tourists who came turned to the last minute. We cannot make plans.''
Mehmet Gülova, a tourism consultant who provides consultancy services to large hotels in many regions, especially Antalya, who said that the picture in the sector is not encouraging and that there is a lack of Russian tourists in Antalya, said the following in a statement to news radio Tourism FM:
"Russians go on vacation, but they go to countries like Dubai, Tunisia and Egypt. Sea, sand and sun are no longer enough to attract tourists. Price is also important. We are expensive now. Our costs have increased a lot, and when the dollar did not increase before the elections, the sector increased prices in dollars. As the season continues, occupancy rates will decrease even more. Tour operators have started to cancel their planned flights, especially in Russia. Looking at the domestic tourists, there is no middle class left to go on vacation. There are Bodrum and Çeşme customers with high purchasing power in the market, but even for them, high prices are no longer accepted.''
Stating that tourists also prefer house rental applications due to the high prices, sector representatives stated that the costs have increased a lot, that they cannot reduce prices even if they want to, that they cannot cut down on air conditioning costs even if they cut down on everything, that even the electricity bill of an average hotel today reaches 1.5 million TL, and that they have lost their customers to daily rental houses.