To find a “long-term realistic solution” to the problem of refugees from the disaster zone, who are now provided with accommodation in hotels in the resorts of Turkey, urged hoteliers of the country's government officials, primarily from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Otherwise, the summer season in Turkey will be in jeopardy if officials continue to rely on “a personal approach and emotionality.” Hotels offer realistic solutions, however, the problem is that the state is offered to fork out for this, and the Turkish budget already has a decent foreign exchange deficit.
At the moment, as the hotels told the Turkish media, a huge number of Turkish hotels voluntarily and free of charge opened their doors to the victims of the earthquake. However, hoteliers are already emphasizing: everyone understands the situation – millions of people were left without a roof over their heads, help was urgently needed, which is why the hotels provided their rooms to the victims. But the summer tourist season is ahead, and if the refugees are not provided with another shelter over their heads, then there will also be nowhere to settle tourists.
“Most of the hotels that were open for earthquake victims were either closed or operated at part capacity during the winter season. Therefore, it was not difficult for them to open up for the victims of the earthquake. But what will happen when the high season comes? – hoteliers directly asked the question.
At the same time, they emphasize that no one plans to put victims of the disaster on the street. “But hotels are also a business. We urge government officials to realize that the problem cannot be solved by emotions and personal efforts alone. The works of mercy must be combined with reality,” the businessmen said.
They even presented a more or less real plan. According to him, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury should negotiate with hotels and “work out a solution on a realistic basis”, and not in an emergency, but in a reasonable time. “For example, if 10-15% of the capacity of each hotel is reserved for earthquake victims, and the costs are covered by the state administration, this will be a realistic solution. While the public administration performs its duties, the hotels also provide this service by donating their assistance to the earthquake victims from their operating profits,” the hoteliers explained.
Recall that the European market has already begun to wonder whether the summer season will take place in Turkey. At least five days ago, experts from European news agencies have already calculated and presented to the public that tens of thousands of victims have already been relocated to hotels, and their number may still grow when those who now live in temporary tent camps join the refugees from the disaster zone. in ruined cities. According to preliminary estimates, there are about 6.5 thousand buildings in the disaster zone that are completely destroyed, and the number of partially damaged buildings is generally difficult to count. So Reuters stated that at the moment, the Office of the Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters and Emergencies of Turkey has calculated that more than 28,000 thousand people left homeless were taken out of the earthquake zone – and that they are planned to be placed in hotels in resorts such as Antalya, Alanya , Marmaris, Fethiye, Bodrum, as well as Izmir and Cappadocia. According to the then report, which was presented by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, 15,729 people were accommodated in state boarding houses, student hostels and hotels, and only in Antalya 11,165 evacuees received places in hotels. But since then, this figure is likely to have seriously increased. The Europeans have not been asked this question directly yet, but between the lines one can read the question – will the hotels be able to start the season in April? Read more here.
At the same time, we add that, at least in European markets, tourists from Turkey can be scared away by one more aspect. German experts have started talking about a possible repeat of the disaster – and this time in the most popular tourist areas. Popular with tourists, Istanbul is located in a zone of extremely high seismic risk, and Turkey does not have much time left before a terrible catastrophe. This was stated by German scientists from the German Center for Geological Research (GFZ) in Potsdam, who named the timing of a new probable earthquake in Istanbul. As Marco Bonhoff from this center stated on the pages of the German media, the next major earthquake is just around the corner, and it is most likely to happen in the Istanbul region. “The average return period for a strong earthquake in Istanbul is 250 years, and the last major earthquake occurred in 1766, so the next one is long overdue,” the German expert explained. It is difficult to make a forecast with an accuracy of a year, but the probability that a strong earthquake threatens the Istanbul region in the next few years or decades is extremely high. Read more here.
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