Turkey is back on the field as a major player, full support for the All-Out Fight Against Inflation Program

Timur Bayındır, President of the Association of Turkish Hoteliers (TÜROB), stated that it is difficult to predict 2019 for the tourism sector from today's perspective, but that he is optimistic about the coming year. Bayındır said: "It is still too early to talk. However, we can say that positive signals are coming from advance sales for 2019 as of today. Turkey is back on the field as a major player in tourism." President Bayındır also stated that, as a sector, they support the All-Out Fight Against Inflation Program.

Timur Bayındır, President of the Association of Turkish Hoteliers (TÜROB), stated that after a difficult two-year period, they expect the upturn seen in tourism this year to continue next year as well, saying: "Turkey is back on the field as a major player in tourism. We have also begun to regain our bargaining power in the international arena in tourism." Speaking on the occasion of the Traditional TÜROB Luncheon held today at the Titanic Downtown Beyoğlu Hotel, President Bayındır expressed that, as the entire sector, they support the All-Out Fight Against Inflation Program. President Timur Bayındır said: "We will certainly support this program to the end. This is our country. We are ready for every kind of sacrifice. We are ready to do everything we can, and even more than we can. We will take our place in this program with a 10 percent discount, or more if necessary, and support it with all our strength."

We are optimistic for 2019

Expressing his expectations for tourism in 2019, Bayındır stated that it is difficult to predict 2019 from today's perspective, but that he is optimistic about the coming year. Bayındır said: "The fairs that serve as a bellwether for Turkey have not yet begun. The signals that will come from the fairs in London, Berlin, Madrid, Moscow, etc. are very important. However, we can say that positive signals are coming from advance sales for 2019 as of today. While Spain, one of our primary competitors in terms of tourism products and diversity, set records over the last two years, it has begun to lose ground with Turkey re-entering the scene. We expect a shift to Turkey from the markets where Spain is experiencing decline."

A positive period in tourist numbers

Saying "We have left behind a summer season that we can describe as positive for our sector," Bayındır said: "According to the data of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in the first 8 months of this year there was a 23 percent increase in the number of tourists compared to the same period last year, and 27 million foreign tourists arrived. We expect the year to end with a double-digit increase in terms of visitor numbers. The accommodation sector also closed the high season with an increase, despite a slowdown in the pace of occupancy in the last month of summer. Across Turkey, hotel occupancy rates ran above 70 percent. Turkey's hotel occupancy in August 2018 was recorded at 76.2 percent, an increase of 1.4 percent compared to the same period of 2017."

Price increases lagged behind

Stating that there was also a price increase, Bayındır said: "But this does not mean that Turkey has started to earn a lot of money from tourism. As we have repeatedly stated before, unfortunately this year prices did not rise as quickly as the increase in tourists and occupancy. We need to wait a few more years to return to the price levels of 2013-2014. In other words, we keep coming back to the same issue. We absolutely must put into practice measures that increase per-capita spending and, therefore, revenues. We may be able to increase the number of tourists beyond expectations, but what is really important is to increase revenue. We must put into practice measures that increase per-capita spending and, therefore, revenues. We had closed 2017 with tourism revenue of 26.2 billion dollars. This year, revenue of 11 billion 469 million dollars was generated in the first 6 months. There was a 30.6 percent increase compared to the first 6 months of last year. We can expect this trend to continue and this rate of increase to be realized by the end of the year. Per-capita spending fell to 638 dollars in the second quarter of this year. Last year this figure was 681 dollars. Unfortunately, there is a decline. In Turkey in 2017, average per-capita spending was 681 dollars. Per-capita spending fell to 638 dollars in the second quarter of this year. In Spain, spending per tourist is around 1,050 euros, that is, considerably higher than Turkey's.

In Italy it is 1,100 euros, and in France per-capita spending exceeds 1,400 euros. One of the most important reasons for the difference here is being able to get tourists to spend in areas such as entertainment, gastronomy, and culture/arts within the city."

The Kiev Workshop was an exemplary cooperation

Noting that they have also launched their promotion and marketing work for 2019, Bayındır gave the following information: "We held the Ukraine Workshop event, organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in cooperation with TÜROB and THY, on 2 October in Kiev. In 2017, the number of tourists coming to our country from Ukraine exceeded 1 million 284 thousand, an increase of 23 percent. Our goal is to attract the higher-income foreign tourist group with new tourism products. In the winter season, we aim to market the culture + winter tourism package sales of Istanbul, Kayseri and Cappadocia to Ukraine as a new product. Considering the interest in winter sports in the country, there is potential. Turning toward overseas destinations from Ukraine, last week we also focused on the South American market and took part in the FIT Argentina Tourism Fair. We are following the Rimini Tourism Fair in Italy. We will continue our promotion and marketing activities at full speed, following the other important fairs to come. As our Ministry has also announced, in 2019 there will be a considerable reduction in the number of fairs and a downsizing of stand areas in the promotion and marketing strategy. We at TÜROB have long argued that different methods should be pursued and that standard fair participation is not very effective. The Kiev workshop was a very good example in this sense. We saw how cooperation between the Ministry and the sector can be carried out in the most productive way. From now on, we will increase similar efforts in target markets and products."

Under the Zoning Amnesty, we will also look into your one thousand square meters and below

Touching on the issue of the Zoning Amnesty (İmar Barışı), Bayındır said: "The new regulations made by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization were published in the Official Gazette dated 20 September 2018 and entered into force. The inclusion of all areas for which Title Deed Fees have been paid in the Building Registration Certificate Fee calculations has come to an end. In cases of non-compliance, the approximate construction cost will be calculated over the area arising from the non-compliance, with a minimum of 1,000 square meters. Now, in the second part, we will look into what can be done for small businesses that fall well below 1,000 square meters."

The current situation in foreign-currency contracts will continue

Pointing out that another important agenda item is the revision of foreign-currency payments in businesses' contracts into Turkish lira, Bayındır said: "The contacts we established yielded results. The contacts we established yielded results. On this matter, we also thank our esteemed Minister Mehmet Ersoy. In response to our contacts, he immediately took steps. It will be possible for tourism establishments to sell/market 'All Their Services Through Foreign-Currency Contracts' to persons resident in Turkey / travel agencies resident in Turkey. In other words, our hotels will continue to operate as before."