The war between Russia and Ukraine, both constitute a huge tourist market for Turkey, is likely to affect the country’s tourism sector with industry representatives expecting a 30% loss.
Speaking to Bloomberg HT, Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TÜROFED) Vice Chairperson Bülent Bülbüloğlu evaluated the impact of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine on tourism.
Bülbüloğlu said that 30% of Turkey's tourism will be affected by this situation, but that it is necessary to attract tourists from different regions to compensate.
“We can make up for some of the (losses). We are trying to expand different markets” he said.
Ramazan Bingöl, head of All Restaurants and Tourism Association (TÜRES), also evaluated the impact of the crisis between Ukraine and Russia on the tourism and food and beverage sector.
Bingöl called on Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry to conduct crisis management regarding the developments.
Saying that those sectors in fact have been badly affected since 2016 on various developments, including the most recent pandemic.
He said that Russians and Ukrainian tourists are most likely will not be coming this summer.
Any prolonged conflict could lower tourist flows to Turkey this summer, assuming Russian and Ukrainian tourist arrivals stay the same as in 2021 or dip a bit.
Some 4.7 million Russians and 2.1 million Ukrainians arrived in Turkey last year, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry data. They accounted for 27.34% of the total 24.7 million foreign tourists that arrived throughout the year. The share jumped from 24.55% in 2020 and 19% in 2019.
Turkey's tourism revenues doubled to almost $25 billion (TL 345 billion) last year but the standoff constitutes risk as the country expects the income to match that of 2019, when it stood at $34.5 billion.
