Turkey: Will Strict Lockdown Save Tourism?

From Thursday 29.04 h Turkey has entered λοκντάουν. Until May 17, everything should be closed and citizens should not leave their homes for no serious reason. With this decision, President Erdogan seeks to further reduce the number of cases to save this year tourist season. While last week they had exceeded 60,000 thousand, these days around 43,000 cases are recorded. But that does not seem to be enough.

“Tourists are exempt from the measures,” said Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. “Museums and important archeological sites will remain open and the conditions for those who want to visit them more comfortable. “In a sense, it is a privilege to be a tourist in Turkey,” the Turkish official said. The Turkish government is targeting summer tourism. For many visitors from Europe and Russia, Turkey is a favorite tourist destination. They leave a lot of money in the coffers and give breath to the winter economy. For this reason, the number of cases must be reduced to the lowest possible point so as not to repeat last year’s fiasco. Last year the pandemic put hotels and resorts in the Mediterranean and the Aegean to the test. Many tourists preferred to stay at home due to strict travel restrictions.

According to the Turkish Statistical Service TUIK, in 2020, 15.9 million fewer tourists came to the country than in other years, a decrease of around 70% compared to 2019. Revenues from tourism decreased by 65%, which means that the loss amounted to 8.3 billion euros. 320,000 employees in the tourism sector lost their jobs last year. Antalya, which is considered a tourist stronghold, suffered a major blow. While 15 million tourists visit it every year, only 3 million came last year. “However, the first three months of this year did not start badly,” Kemal Sahin, president of the Sahinler tourism company with many hotels in the area, told DW. “But then the cases increased again and Russia canceled flights to Turkey until the beginning of June, and when Russian tourists do not come, everything collapses.”

But Mehmet Isler, president of the Aegean Tourism Business Association ETIK, was also optimistic early in the spring. “At the beginning of March, we started with the forecast that we will receive 30 million tourists this year. But party conferences were held across the country, raising cases and tightening measures. “And suddenly all our expectations and goals were buried in the sand,” he told DW.

7 million Russians and 5 million German tourists traveled to Turkey in 2019. In 2020 they were much less, but this year the situation does not seem to be better, as tourism entrepreneur Sahin fears. This is because in both countries there are problems and delays in the vaccination program. “All of this has ruined our plans for the whole year. “Let’s hope that tourism rises again in June and that we do not experience setbacks again.” The total lockdown imposed by President Erdogan will level the tourist traffic in the coming weeks.

But tour operators applaud this move, as they hope that at least that way the cases will fall and the industry will return to its daily routine. Kemal Sahin even argues that it should have been introduced earlier. “It is a right but belated decision,” he says. “If we had started earlier, we could have opened the tourist season earlier.” Mehmet Isler, a good connoisseur of tourism, comes to the same conclusion. “We must fight the pandemic with the most serious measures possible, otherwise in 2021 we will be far behind in our goals.”

source: Deutsche Welle