ISRAELI TOURISTS OPT FOR TURKEY DESPITE THAW

Despite media reports in Israel that Turkish travel agencies are ready to slash prices to increase the number of Israeli visitors to the country, Turkish hotels are now capping room sales due to rising Israeli demand, tourism authorities said.

“There is no need to misdirect people, especially in this crisis environment with Israel. As tourism people, we follow the tourism agenda, facts and figures, both in the national and international market – not every day, but every hour,” Demet Gürsoy, the public relations manager of the Titanic Resort Hotel, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “I assure you, there is no decrease in sales figures.”

Emphasizing that most hotels had made agreements for the 2010 tourism season well before the recent rise of diplomatic tensions between Israel and Turkey, Gürsoy said canceling the agreements after the beginning of the season would be impossible – even if the numbers were down.

Quotas for every nationality

Agreeing with Gürsoy that the Turkish tourism industry is pleased with the number of Israeli visitors, Canan Atılgan, the sales coordinator for the Adam & Eve Hotel, said winter weather was the sole factor in decreasing the number of Israeli and other foreign tourists.

“It is quite normal for the winter season not to reach summer figures for any nationality in Turkish tourism,” she said. “Yes, we do not host as many Israeli tourists as we do during the summer – just as we are not hosting as many German, Russian, English or Korean tourists at the moment.”

Gürsoy said his hotel has limited quotas for every nationality, which applies to Israeli tourists as well. “Our quota for Israeli tourists was full even before the season started,” he said. “We cannot accept further Israeli tourists even if there is demand from their side at the moment.”

To avoid being perceived as a venue catering to certain nationalities – for instance, a German hotel, a Russian hotel or an Israeli hotel – hoteliers often impose quotas on the number of tourists from each country who can stay at the location.

Due to the pre-season agreements, golf hotels in Antalya’s Belek district have not experienced a decrease in the number of visitors either, contrary to the view of some travel agencies, said Dilek Ergun, the sales manager of the Sirene Belek Golf Hotel.

Contentment matters more than crisis

According to the Israel Tourist and Travel Agents Association head Yossi Fattal, the recent crisis may prevent Israelis from coming to Turkey. But the unnamed owner of a leading travel agency in Antalya disagreed with that assessment, saying that the overall quality and price of tourism is more influential than the diplomatic crisis between the countries.

“With my long experience in the sector, I can safely say that as long as tourists, regardless of their nationality, get their money’s worth and their expectations met, they do not care about enmity at the diplomatic level,” he said, adding that Turkey is very popular with Israeli tourists because of the variety of activities offered there.

TURKISHDAILYNEWS