THE number of foreign arrivals to Turkey slumped by 34.7 percent in May compared to the same month of 2015 to 2.49 million, according to data released by the Tourism Ministry on June 28.
This marked the steepest decline since the early 1990s.

Turkey’s hotel occupancy rates plunged below 57 percent in May, as the country saw the worst drop across Europe after Belgium, the Turkish Touristic Hotels and Investors Association (TÜROB) said in a written statement.

While hotel occupancy rates declined by 19.1 percent in May to 56.5 percent compared to the same month of 2015 due to rising security concerns and the diplomatic crisis with Russia.

Hotel occupancy rates in Turkey fell by 16.2 percent to 51.7 percent in the first five months of the year compared to the same month of 2015, ranking them worst across Europe, according to data compiled by TÜROB from STR Global’s figures.

Average daily room prices also declined by 33 percent to 83.20 euros in May compared to the same month of 2015.

Arrivals from Russia slump 92 percent
In May, Turkey saw dramatic declines mainly in arrivals from Russia and Western countries amid rising security concerns and the diplomatic row with Russia, which was the second largest foreign tourist source for Turkey until recently.

The number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey declined by around 92 percent to 41,004 in May compared to the same month of 2015, while the number of arrivals from Germany dropped by 31.5 percent and from Britain by 29.4 percent to around 427,000 and 219,000, respectively.

The number of foreign people visiting Turkey decreased by 22.9 percent to 8.3 million in the first five months of this year compared to the same period of 2015, data also showed. Tourism players expect revenue losses of around $15 billion this year.

Turkish Travel Agencies Association (TÜRSAB) President Başaran Ulusoy has suggested that Turkey needs to end the all-inclusive resort system, which is very common especially along the Mediterranean, as the system has pulled down the sector’s revenue.

Ulusoy said the all-inclusive system, which was born in line with a price-focused marketing strategy, has led to a vicious cycle in the sector.

“As this system is, by its nature, attractive for cost-savvy tourists, such hotels cannot raise their prices, although their costs are increasing year by year. The commonness of the system in Turkey has had a diminishing factor over the sector revenue,” he said.