TÜROB President Müberra Eresin’s assessment of the current situation and expectations of the tourism and accommodation sector

TÜROB President Müberra Eresin’s assessment of the current situation and expectations of the tourism and accommodation sector is as follows:

WE HAD STARTED OUT SAYING IT WOULD BE THE BEST YEAR

· We began 2020 expecting it to be one of our best years ever. Following a 2-3 year slowdown in the tourism sector, the upturn that resumed in 2019 had continued through the first two months of 2020 as well. However, an entirely unforeseeable situation arose, and tourism activity came to a halt in Türkiye, as it did all over the world. We are going through an extraordinary period both globally and for our country. It is unfortunately an undeniable fact that this pandemic has affected the entire world in every area and that its most severe consequences have made themselves felt in our sector. This unexpected period is continuing, and this situation makes it quite difficult to plan for the future.

THE FIRST STEPS MAY COME TOWARD MID-JUNE

· It is unfortunately not possible at present to predict when normalization will begin or how long the full normalization process will take. This process will be determined by the course of the pandemic and bringing it under control. However, for the sake of our sector we have to be optimistic, and all our efforts are continuing in line with the optimistic scenario. We hope that the first steps toward normalization will come from mid-June onward.

SETTING A TARGET IS NOT POSSIBLE AT THIS STAGE

· It is not possible at this stage to speak of a numerical target for the end of the year. We would particularly like to stress that we place human life at the center of our concerns and that we put human health ahead of every kind of commercial expectation. Beyond that, our priority for today is reducing the pandemic’s impact on our country’s tourism sector and keeping the business structure and, most importantly of all, the employment structure afloat. Every business in the sector is making the maximum effort to protect its workforce and the qualified labor it secured with such difficulty. We at TÜROB hope to get through this period as quickly as possible so that our employees can return to their jobs as soon as possible.

WE ARE PREPARING FOR LIFE AFTER CORONA

· We are making all our preparations for the day when the public authorities say ‘you can now go out,’ and we are preparing our hotels for the days after corona. Of course, the most important part of these preparations consists of the sector practices that will undergo major change in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

CONTROLLED BUFFET SERVICE WILL COME

· When we look at what the new practices might be, I would like to clarify one of the most frequently asked questions. Yes, in the very first days when the disease emerged, we at TÜROB issued a recommendation, within the framework of measures that could be taken against the coronavirus outbreak, that member hotels remove the open buffet from breakfast, lunch and dinner service and switch to a ‘breakfast plate and set menu’ practice. But of course, in later periods there will be no question of it being abolished altogether. All measures that have been and will be taken are limited solely to this pandemic period; afterward the necessary hygiene conditions will in any case be adapted to Covid-19, and we will continue from where we left off. Hygiene and food safety will always continue to be our priority. It is of course very difficult at this stage to predict which practices will change with the coronavirus outbreak and which changes will be permanent, but it is also a fact that there will be changes in some of our practices.

CERTIFICATION WILL MAKE A CONTRIBUTION

· Work on hygiene certification for tourism establishments is also ongoing. Hygiene and food safety have always been very important for the accommodation sector. With the period we are now in, they have become far more important. A very comprehensive commission on certification has been established by the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The Preparatory Committee, in which we at TÜROB also take part, includes, first and foremost, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, along with the Ministry of Health, members of the Scientific Advisory Board, and officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Ministry of Trade. In addition, DHMİ, TAV, THY, TÜROFED, TURYİD, the Association of Tourism Carriers and others are on the committee.

· We are consolidating our work on the Hygiene Certificate for Accommodation and Food & Beverage Establishments within the Preparatory Committee, working on details such as the drafting of protocols, online training practices and so on, and presenting our recommendations to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the other committee members. At the end of this work process, the principles of implementation will be determined.

· All of this work is proceeding transparently under the supervision of the Ministry. We are pleased that the project has been expanded to include all of its stakeholders and that it is being carried out under the coordination of the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Taking into account, first and foremost, the establishment of consumer confidence, employee safety and positive perception, we firmly believe that it will make a major contribution to our sector going forward.

· At TÜROB, in cooperation with ECOLAB, we launched in April 2020 the online and free ‘Covid-19 and Hygiene Training’ for the employees of our member accommodation facilities and tourism establishments, which they can join via their personal computers or mobile phones. At the end of the training, we provide a “certificate of participation” to all of the employees who attend. In a sense, this serves both as preparation for the present and as certification and preparation for practices in the post-coronavirus period. The fact that a certificate of participation is provided at the end of the training will also help create an atmosphere of confidence both for the sector and for the consumer. In response to the very positive feedback we received and the strong demand, we will repeat the training in May. In this way, across a total of two phases, we will have delivered the training to approximately 1,500 employees.

MIND THE BALANCE BETWEEN OPERATING COSTS & SELLING PRICES

· One of the most important issues after corona will be cost increases and sales pricing. At TÜROB, we have planned training programs for our members on topics such as revenue management first and foremost, as well as pricing, market analysis and budget analysis, and we will be starting these training sessions and seminars from the second week of May.

· Likewise, we think there will be considerable change in sales and marketing activities after our hotels reopen; on this subject too, we will hold a seminar for our members on post-Covid-19 sales and marketing techniques in the third week of May.

THE SUPPORT MEASURES ARE POSITIVE, BUT NEW SUPPORT IS ESSENTIAL

· In order to support the sector, tax arrangements and social security arrangements, as well as judicial and legal arrangements, have been put into effect. We consider the announced support packages to be positive for the sector. However, we would particularly like to stress that there is also a need for new support measures and that the announced deferral periods need to be extended.

· Thanks to the steps that have been taken, we maintain the hope that, in terms of the sector’s stability and the protection of employment, our sector will continue its activities with the least possible damage once the effects of the pandemic have been overcome. We at TÜROB would particularly like to stress that, within our means, we stand by our state, our nation and our employees, and that we are ready to offer every kind of support we can. This is a temporary period, and healthy and beautiful days will of course come.