In popular Turkish tourism destinations such as Bodrum and Çeşme, citizens have turned their attention to the Greek islands following exorbitant price increases. It is also mentioned that Turkish business owners, including those operating pensions, hotels, and restaurants, are starting to head towards Greece due to insufficient business at home.
Speaking to Milliyet about the issue, Mehmet Gem, Chairman of the Tourism Commission of the Consumer Confederation (TÜKONFED), said:
"Recently, there have been significant differences in the prices of products that the tourism sector purchases or receives from suppliers. Additionally, businesses have been burdened with substantial costs in terms of employee salaries. Consequently, hoteliers, transporters, and travel agencies were compelled to automatically increase their prices.
This situation has led hoteliers to raise room rates from 70 euros per person in previous years to 100 or 110 euros.
“Demand for overseas vacations may increase”
Before these price hikes, the cost of a one-week vacation for a family of four at a 4-star resort in the domestic market was on average 70,000 TL. Consumers who want to go on vacation under these conditions will inevitably create alternative destinations. The average tour price for one person on a flight-inclusive cultural tour has reached between 22,000 and 30,000 Turkish liras. Here, we see the impact of the pricing policies applied by airlines.
For this reason, consumers will prefer to travel to economically feasible destinations, whether it be the Greek islands or overseas tours. Annually, 4 to 4.5 million of our people were going abroad for vacations in previous years. This number could rise to 5 million in 2024. If prices in domestic tourism continue to rise to this extent in the coming years, consumers will continue to prefer overseas vacations.
“Currently, there is 60% occupancy”
July, August, and September are the high season months for tourism. At present, our hotels have an overall occupancy rate of 60%. Hotels are also notifying significant actions to foreign tour operators and the agencies working with them. Especially in July, we have many vacancies, and some of our hotels have turned to open sales after September 15. Our citizens prefer the Greek islands.
“We have not heard any complaints about the Greek Islands”
Consumers have chosen the Greek islands because they believe they can vacation much more affordably than in Türkiye, based on information or prior experience from others. So far, we have not heard any complaints from anyone who has visited the Greek islands. It seems there is a certain level of satisfaction. If there were any complaints regarding accommodation fees or services and prices at outside venues, we would have surely heard them from consumers who had been there.
Especially looking at the traffic over the weekends, we hear that the hotels and pensions on the islands are fully booked, and those who want to rent a car are given a date for the following week.