The “problem of refugees” predicted for resorts in Turkey, who lost their homes during a terrible earthquake in early February, is likely to worsen in mid-March. So, the other day, a mass eviction of this category of guests began in Turkish hotels: earthquake victims living in hotels were invited “to leave”, since the tourist season will begin in 2 weeks, and hotels should have time to put themselves in order.
However, it is absolutely incomprehensible what to do with the victims, apparently, there is no “government plan” to provide them with housing instead of hotels. On the other hand, humanity comes into sharp conflict with the requirements of business – the “refugee factor” adds problems to hotels and becomes another reason for the mass refusal of tourists from bookings.
As they say in the Turkish media, “out” is already On March 10, the refugees were asked in the hotels of Antalya. “We regret to inform you that we will be serving you until 03/10/2023 due to the opening date and renovation of our hotel. We kindly ask you to inform the reception of the date of departure before 03/10/2023, ”the publication quotes a statement from one of the hotel.
At the same time, as the victims say, they do not know what to do next. “The house where we lived is in a terrible state, it stands, but its walls collapsed on us, and we miraculously survived. Nevertheless, a report was given of “minor damage”, but we can’t not only live there – it’s dangerous even to go into it, ”said representatives of one of the families. According to the victims, there are about 13 people in this hotel, in total, about 1 thousand victims of the earthquake are located in the vicinity. “The hotel management asked us to evacuate. The lack of any kind of planning what to do next is the main problem for us. We definitely plan to return to Hatay in the future, but now we can’t in any way – but already on March 10, the victims of the earthquake, who were accommodated in the hotel, must move out. We understand that the tourist season will start, but why doesn’t the state have any plan?” complain refugees from Alanya.
Recall that immediately after the earthquake, hotels in all popular tourist provinces opened their doors for refugees, including Antalya, Mugla, Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara and Nevsehir. The number of victims of the earthquake, placed in hotels, exceeded 100 thousand people. Hotels have announced that they will be accepting earthquake victims until March 15, when the tourist season begins.
At the same time, let's add: the fact that refugees are in hotels has already provided business with serious problems. Tourists from other countries, on whose currency injections hoteliers and tour operators are counting, are still frightened by the February earthquake and the panic forecasts associated with it. And they also don’t really want to settle for their money next to the victims.
This pattern is observed in all major markets. In Germany, for example, bookings by German tourists for tours to Turkey came to a halt after the February earthquake. This information was provided by the German analytical agency Travel Data & Analytics (TDA). According to them, tourists “prefer to wait and see what happens.” Experts admit that the problem of refugees, who are currently accommodated in hotels in Antalya and other resorts in Turkey, also played a role. Read more at this link.
The situation on the Russian market is no better. The representative of one of the largest “Turkish” tour operators in Russia, Orhan Sankar, coordinator of Pegas Touristik in Russia and the CIS countries, admitted that the current sales are not optimistic. Tourists who have already booked tours are in no hurry to refuse them. But for new bookings, for which, starting from February, an active season was expected, the situation is much worse. “Many tourists have not canceled their holidays, but in general there is a sharp stagnation in new bookings. Cancellation rates are 20%, but the number of new bookings has decreased by 80%,” a Turkish expert described the situation. Read more here.
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