As Turkey has greeted the holiday season offering both local and foreign tourists a vacation enjoying the sun, sea and sand trio as well as culture and entertainment, the hotels in the country's Aegean region have seen 90 percent occupancy rates.

The May 19 Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day coinciding on Friday this year, hence the long weekend, and the holiday season, has led to a boom in hotel occupancy rates in the Aegean region.

Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TÜROFED) Vice Chairman Mehmet İşler told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the three-day long weekend, with the May 19 Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day public holiday, has served as a lifeline support for the tourism sector to the delight of sector professionals. "Tourism facilities were already in need of such a lifeline and morale," he underlined. The hotels in the Aegean region are recorded to be almost fully booked out, with both local and foreign tourists flocking to the region.

According to İşler, following the long weekend this week, the sector will be invigorated again with the following Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the summer holiday.

Didim Tourism Association President Ercüment Alkaner explained that the three-day weekend has made tourism professionals happy, pointing out, "Due to this three-day weekend, occupancy rates in hotels have increased considerably and we will reap its benefits. The rate of occupancy at our hotels is about 90 percent at the moment." Kuşadası Hoteliers and Investors Association President Tacettin Özden also said that there is remarkable tourist presence in the district.

Özden further stated that they are very satisfied with the activity, adding that hotel occupancy rates are currently about 85 percent to 90 percent. "We think that this three-day weekend will bring a breath of fresh air to the sector in the period we consider it to be stagnant. It will be very good not only for tourism, but also for the tradesmen in the district center."

Özden stated that tourism will be enjoyed with reservations from Europeans and Iranians. Hotel occupancy rates reached 100 percent in southwestern Denizli province's touristic sight, Pamukkale, which is visited by a great number of people on public holidays.

Gazi Murat Şen, chairman of the Denizli Touristic Hoteliers and Businessmens Association (DENTUROD), said Pamukkale's archaeological sites attract the greatest number of visitors among other ruins in Turkey, adding that Pamukkale is visited by as many as 2 million local and foreign guests every year.

Stating that vacancies at tourism facilities have been filled for the three-day weekend, Şen said, "We invite everybody to come and see Pamukkale all the time. Pamukkale is one of the places among the world's tourism heritages to be included in everybody's bucket list."