Tourists postponed Turkey

After the earthquake in Turkey, the demand of Russians for tours and air tickets to this country fell by a quarter in a week. In the first days of the disaster, some tourists began to refuse to travel, although the destruction did not affect the resort areas. Now, demand is being negatively affected by the inability to visit historical sites that were at the epicenter of the tremors, and the plans of the Turkish authorities to temporarily accommodate residents of the affected areas in hotels that receive tourists.

Over the past week, the demand for organized tours to Turkey has decreased by 25% compared to the previous week, according to data from Travelata.ru. The Russians have refocused on the UAE, Egypt and Thailand. Tour operators confirm the drop in sales of tours to Turkey.

Independent tourists have also become less interested in Turkey, they say in Ostrovok.ru. From February 6 to February 12, Russians booked a third fewer accommodations in the country than from January 30 to February 5. Demand for flights to Turkey, according to Yandex.Travel, also decreased by 25% over the week. A representative of another ticket aggregator noticed a drop in sales of 32% for the week and 52% for the year.

Turkey is one of the most popular tourist destinations among Russians. According to Sletat.ru, the country provides 13-15% of the average daily volume of tours sold by Russian operators. According to the representative of Intourist Daria Domostroyeva, immediately after the news about the earthquake, the volume of cancellations of applications for tours to Turkey increased by 10%, but later it returned to 2-3%. While the Russians do not massively refuse previously purchased tours to Turkey, said Oleg Kozyrev, Marketing Director of Travelata.ru. He explains that refunds are issued with deduction of actual expenses incurred and clients cannot get the full amount back. “The disaster occurred in regions where tourists usually do not go, and resort areas were left out,” the expert adds.

Anex Tour explains that the Russians rest mainly in Antalya, where the tremors were almost not felt. In the affected regions, according to a company representative, they now travel only as part of humanitarian assistance. Excursion programs planned in the spring to South-Eastern Anatolia will be adjusted, Daria Domostroeva specifies. She explains that some of the historical sites were badly damaged.

The Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) said that Nemrut Dag, Göbekli Tepe and the old center of Mardin were not seriously affected and after the normalization of the situation, tourists would probably be able to return here. So far, according to ATOR Executive Director Maya Lomidze, the situation has not had a direct impact on tourists: excursion programs in the region traditionally start in April-May. But some of the hotels in the resort area may be occupied by residents of the regions affected by the earthquake, which will affect the tourist flow. Turkish authorities said last week that they had reached an agreement with hotels in Antalya, Alanya and Mersin, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.

The interlocutor of “Kommersant” in the tourist market is sure that demand for Turkey will soon recover, which is facilitated by lower prices by local hoteliers due to the refusal to travel to the country of some tourists from the EU. According to Travelata.ru, now the average cost of a tour to Turkey is 126.4 thousand rubles, having decreased by an insignificant 3.5% over the week. Mr. Kozyrev calls further price cuts rather unlikely, as the country will remain in demand among Russians for summer holidays.

The situation will depend on the speed of liquidation of the consequences of the earthquake, said Sergey Romashkin, general director of the Dolphin tour operator. “In a negative scenario, about 50% of vacationers in Turkey will reorient themselves to Russian resorts,” he does not exclude. According to Alean, last week the demand for tours in Russia was 23% higher year-on-year.

Alexandra Mertsalova