TÜROB: The upturn will continue this year as well...

TÜROB President Timur Bayındır, noting that a year that could be described as good for tourism has come to a close, said: "We expect the upturn experienced last year to continue this year as well. This year we foresee an increase of around 10-12 percent in both visitor numbers and revenues. We are optimistic about almost all tourism markets."

Association of Turkish Hoteliers (TÜROB) President Timur Bayındır, noting that Turkish tourism has entered an upward trend again as of 2018 after going through a difficult 2-year period, said: "We have left behind a year that could be described as good for the tourism sector. We expect the upturn experienced last year to continue this year as well. This year we foresee an increase of around 10-12 percent in both visitor numbers and revenues." Saying "The impressions we have gained from major international fairs are also raising our hopes for 2019," Bayındır said: "We are optimistic about almost all tourism markets. The signals coming from the European markets in particular, which constitute our main market and which we could call the backbone of Turkish tourism, are gratifying. Movement has begun in the Far East markets. The Middle East market is maintaining its vitality. We are optimistic about the other markets as well. Therefore, we foresee the continuation this year of the upward trend that began in 2018, and once again double-digit growth."

Both tourist numbers and occupancy rates increased

Assessing the 2018 results and the 2019 expectations in the tourism sector, TÜROB President Bayındır noted that Türkiye has taken to the field again as a major player in tourism, saying: "We have also begun to regain our bargaining power in the international arena in tourism." The highlights of Bayındır's assessment are as follows:

As we began 2018, we had stated that we were hopeful about tourist numbers and expected double-digit growth. We are leaving behind a year that we can describe as positive for our sector. According to Ministry of Culture and Tourism data, the number of tourists coming to Türkiye reached 37 million 537 thousand people in 11 months, an increase of 22.2 percent. The December figures have not yet been announced, but proportionally the year looks set to end with an increase at this level.

In the accommodation sector, one of the most important pillars of Turkish tourism, the revenue increase in both occupancy rates and prices is encouraging. Türkiye's hotel occupancy rates also rose by 10.3 percent to 66.7 percent in the January-November 2018 period. In the first 11-month performances of 2018, Türkiye was the country that experienced the highest increase in occupancy rate. The price increase in the accommodation sector also continued. In the January-November 2018 period, the average daily rate per room sold rose by 6.4 percent to 70.8 Euros, while revenue per available room across the total room count rose by 17.3 percent to 47.2 Euros. In the 11-month period, Türkiye was the second country, after Russia, to achieve the highest increase rate in revenue per room compared to the previous year.

In the first 11-month performances of 2018, Istanbul was the destination that achieved the highest increase rate compared to the previous year, at 13.4 percent, in occupancy rate. In revenue per room, Istanbul was the second destination, after Moscow, to achieve the highest increase rate, at 25 percent.

There is still some time before prices return to their former levels

The start of an increase in prices is gratifying. But unfortunately, the rise was not as rapid as the increase in tourists and occupancy. We had stated that it would not be correct to expect the upward trend in prices to be as fast as that in tourist numbers. We expect the price and revenue increase to continue. This situation shows that market diversification has begun to accelerate, especially in Istanbul. However, we need to wait a few more years for prices to return to the levels of 2013-2014.

We absolutely must put into practice measures that increase per-capita spending, and therefore revenues. We may be able to increase tourist numbers beyond expectations, but what really matters is increasing revenue. Rather than the increase in tourist numbers, we need to focus on achieving a rise in prices. This should be the most important undertaking of 2019.

This year, 22 billion dollars in tourism revenue was generated in the first 9 months. There was an increase of more than 20 percent compared to the first 9 months of last year. We can expect this trend to continue and this increase rate to materialize by the end of the year. Per-capita spending fell to 612 dollars in the 3rd quarter of this year. Unfortunately, there is a decline. Last year this figure had been 684 dollars.
Accommodation investments picked up pace in Anatolia

While investments in the accommodation sector have slowed, striking increases are being seen in investments in the Anatolian provinces. In the 10-month period covering January-October this year, 143 new hotel projects with a total of 22,081 beds across 48 cities received investment incentive certificates. The new investments will be completed with a total expenditure of 2 billion 337 million TL. In the same period last year, 153 hotel projects with a total of 28,073 beds across 46 provinces had received 2 billion 564 million TL in investment incentives. Accordingly, there was a 6.5 percent decline in the number of projects and an 8.8 percent decline in the investment amount. On a provincial basis, Antalya ranked first with 16 new hotel projects totaling 3,628 beds. While Istanbul took second place with 15 projects totaling 2,449 beds, Trabzon, with 12 projects totaling 1,253 beds, began to challenge for the top two spots. Muğla came fourth with 10 projects totaling 1,861 beds, while İzmir came fifth with 6 projects totaling 855 beds. This year, investments in Van made a significant leap in terms of the number of projects. The province, with 5 hotel projects totaling 439 beds, became the sixth province with the most investment in terms of the number of projects.

In the first half, the downward trend in investments remained at a minimum. As we had foreseen, a decline occurred from the second half onward in line with economic conditions. The trend of investments spreading to Anatolia is gratifying. However, care must be taken to ensure that planned investments are made. If unplanned investments accelerate, a risk of excess capacity could emerge in the coming periods. New investments in Antalya and Istanbul continue to increase despite the oversupply. The excessive increase in bed supply has become one of the difficulties in tourism. Planning is essential. Renovation incentives are not sufficient. Steps must be taken on this matter. It should be taken into account that there are many hotels entering a process of deterioration in Antalya, Istanbul, Aydın and Muğla, and regulations should be made in the incentive certificates to be granted to these provinces in favor of the modernization and renovation of existing investments rather than new ones.

New projects are on the way

In October we held a very successful workshop in Kiev for the Ukrainian market. On December 4, again with the support of our Ministry, we held a second workshop in Odessa. We believe that such events are very beneficial. Therefore, we are planning similar events in 2019 in the Balkans, China and Russia.