Changing the Name and Changing the Game, from Turkey to Turkiye

How embracing identity will help identify the future of Turkiye’s Tourist Profile

The Appeal of Turkiye

Data released on Monday revealed that the number of foreigners arriving in Turkey last month more than tripled from a year earlier, supporting predictions that a recovery in the sector will aid in the recovery of an economy that has been severely harmed by a weak currency and rising inflation.

Despite the effects of the war in Ukraine, industry experts anticipate that tourist numbers will rebound to 2019 levels this year, putting the 2020–21 coronavirus dip behind. According to figures from the Tourism Ministry, the number of foreign visitors increased by 225.6% in April from a year earlier to 2.57 million.

Bodrum, a vacation city in the southwest, predicted that 1.5 million international visitors will arrive there in 2019, beating the 1.3 million who came in the year before the pandemic. Due to the weaker Turkish Lira, Aras predicted that visitors from the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands would return, making up for the war’s negative effects on Russian and Ukrainian tourism.

“We are currently a very affordable destination. In addition to Bodrum, Turkey has once more become a very desirable travel destination as a result of the depreciating lira “added he.

Over the past year, the value of the lira has decreased by half, garnering attention among nations that had previously only contributed modest amounts to Turkish tourism. The largest Polish travel company, Itaka, stated that bookings had tripled from the previous year, according to Piotr Henicz.

In a nutshell, he stated, “excellent value for money.” Although they nearly doubled to around $25 billion last year, tourism receipts were still down from $34.5 billion in 2019, when 45.1 million foreign tourists visited Turkey.

Last month, inflation reached a two-decade high of 70%, partly as a result of a currency crisis that occurred late last year. Even if the trade balance has further deteriorated into a negative position, the administration claims that foreign money will assist stabilize the currency and reduce price increases.

The Future of Tourism in Turkiye

According to the most recent Economic Impact Report (EIR) by the World Travel & Tourism Council, Turkey’s travel and tourism sector is expected to develop at an average annual rate of 5.5 percent over the next ten years, more than double the country’s overall economic growth rate of 2.5 percent. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) predicts that by 2032, the sector’s GDP contribution to the country might be close to TRY 1,036 billion (US$117 billion), or 11% of the entire economy.

Over the following ten years, the sector is anticipated to add more than 716,000 new employments. By the end of this year, the sector’s GDP contribution is anticipated to increase by 15.5% to about TRY 607 billion (US$68.5 billion), accounting for 8.3% of the country’s GDP, while employment is anticipated to increase by 4% to more than 2.5 million jobs.

According to the most recent airline booking data from WTTC’s knowledge partner Forward Keys, Turkey is expected to rank fourth among popular European vacation destinations this summer among sun-seeking tourists who will be visiting cities like Istanbul and the beaches of Antalya, Bodrum, and Dalaman. According to the data, flight reservations have already surpassed pre-pandemic levels, with reservations from the UK up 101 percent.

Bookings from the United States, Canada, and Ireland increased by 57%, 28%, and 18%, respectively, in 2019. Other source markets are also outperforming 2019.

“The future looks bright for Turkey’s travel and tourism sector,” said Julia Simpson, President and CEO of the WTTC, “with its contribution to GDP projected to exceed the national economy for the next 10 years, producing almost three quarters of a million new employment.”

“Data from our partner ForwardKeys on flight bookings plainly demonstrates that this well-liked resort is set to have a strong summer season.”

“Turkey’s economy before the pandemic was heavily dependent on foreign tourists, so both the economy and jobs depend on its revival.”

The contribution of Turkey’s travel and tourism industry to GDP decreased painfully by 52.8 percent from 11 percent (TRY 693.3 billion, or US$78.2 billion), in 2019, to just 5.1 percent (TRY 327.2 billion, or US$36.9 billion), in 2020.

Prior to experiencing an 18% decline, falling to 2.1 million jobs, the sector also provided close to 2.6 million jobs across the nation.

Its contribution to GDP increased by 60.6 percent from the previous year to TRY 525.5 billion ($59.3 billion). Nearly 300,000 travel and tourism employment, or 14% more jobs overall, were recovered in the industry, bringing the total to over 2.4 million.

The impact of the Omicron variety, which caused the recovery to fail globally and many nations to reintroduce tight travel restrictions, according to the international body for tourism, might have increased the sector’s contribution to the economy and employment.