Positive signs coming from Iran, which is among the countries sending the most frequent guests to Turkey’s Van province, in the first months of 2022 have boosted hope for Turkey's tourism expectations, with a prospect to host more than 2 million Iranian tourists this year.
The Hotel Association of Turkey (TÜROB) also announced that the Iranian tourist record of 2.5 million in 2017 could be exceeded in 2023.
The TÜROB accelerated its promotion and marketing activities again. While Iran was the first stop in the COVID-19 pandemic process, Iranian tourism professionals showed great interest in the workshop held in the capital Tehran in cooperation with the TÜROB and Sea Travel, one of the leading travel agencies in the market.
Hoteliers from Turkey's various provinces, including holiday paradises Kuşadası and Bodrum, as well as representatives of over 400 tourism agencies from Iran attended the workshop, which was shown as the largest tourism organization held in Iran after the pandemic and the gala held afterward.
The TÜROB released a report after the workshop and shared the sector's predictions regarding the Iranian market. Emphasizing that the Iranian tourism market will continue to rise this year, the report also stated that Iranians are expected to flock to Turkey again, especially during the Nevruz holiday.
Located near the Iranian border, Van is a tourist attraction for its natural wonders and historic monuments. Most Iranian tourists arrive in March and April for their 13-day Nevruz holiday, which is the Persian New Year and celebrates the coming of spring.
TÜROB head Muberra Eresin, whose views were given in the statement, said that the demand for Turkey from Iran has revived and that this liveliness is expected to have a positive effect on the occupancy rates mainly in Istanbul and Van hotels in March.
Stating that Nevruz stands out as the period when Iranian tourist traffic accelerates the most, Eresin said: "We expect 250,000 or 300,000 Iranian tourists to come in March this year. Again, there is a high demand for Istanbul, Van, Izmir, Antalya, Bursa, Sapanca, Kuşadası and Bodrum will be among the most preferred tourism destinations this year."
Explaining that they expect the demand from Iran to continue to increase after March, Eresin stated that they expect a significant increase in the number of Iranian tourists by the end of the year if there is no development that may adversely affect the market.
"Turkey is among the priority destinations for Iran," said Eresin, adding that they aim to maintain the title of "the country most preferred by Iranian tourists for their international holidays" this year as well.
