Grab yourself a cuppa and take a look at our weekly round up of Turkey tourism news highlights and headlines from the last seven days.
Russians still holidaying in Antalya until first week in November (Daily Sabah, 6th September 2017)
The Daily Sabah reported earlier today that hotels in Antayla are still brimming with Russian tourists and this is expected to continue until early November. Quoting Anadolu Agencies chat with Etem Hakan Duran, the head of the Professional Hoteliers Association, “Russian tourists prefer Antalya”. According to the article, direct flights from Russia are continuing until the first week in November and booking numbers are high. This co-insides with the conference and convention tourism in the city which is also ensuring high occupancy in many of the larger hotels and resorts. Duran acknoleged that there was still some way to go before we see the numbers we enjoyed in 2014 but is confident that tourism in Turkey will continue the upward trend in the next two years.
Monarch Airlines goes bust spoling many peoples holiday plans. (Reuters 2nd October 2017)
Perhaps the biggest news this week was the collapse of Monarch Airlines, a carrier that flew frequently to Turkey and employed over 2,100 staff. News came last Monday that the airline fell victim to fierce competition and a weakening pound. According to reports, Monarch had been struggling for a long time and many efforts were made to supply lifelines to the carrier. According to Forbes and Reuters, all operations ceased immediately the end was announced. This left over 100,000 tourists stranded abroad (many in Turkey) with uncertain journeys home and has affected around 900,000 people in total. Thankfully alternative arrangements were quickly made available to holidaymakers in resorts to ensure their safe return home. This has caused a lot of upset and frustration to many initally stranded here in Turkey, and has meant those that had booked with Monarch to come here for the end of season have had to either make alternative arrangements or cancel their trips completely resulting in an unfortunate blow to end of season tourism in the area.
Remains of Santa Claus thought to have been found near Antalya (Oceanwide Properties News, 4th October 2017)
We ran a lovely story earlier in the week about how the lost remains of St Nicholas, our Christmas Saint is thought to have been found under the mosaic floor of a church in Demre. If the findings turn out to be those of St Nicholas it would mean that the remains currently thought to be those of Santa in Beri, Italy are those of an unknown priest. Take a look at our full article and learn more on the facinating link Turkey, and the Fethiye area plays in the modern Christmas tale. Why is there not more is made of the Christmas connection here in the region? If publisised, surely it would bring more visitors to Turkey?
Jail sentences on the way for those that abuse animals (Daily Hurriyet 5th October 2017)
Although this isn’t strictly Turkey tourism news, many foreigners visiting Turkey do comment on the amount of stray animals they see in resorts or the discheveled, weak or abused state of animals they occasionally come across in Turkey. Co-insiding with World Animal Day on October 4th, the Justice Ministry announced that tougher jail sentences are on the cards for those found guilty of abusing animals. Although there is already a law whereby those found guilty of tourturing or killing animals can face up to three years in prison, this was only if the animal in question was owned. This new law would include all animals. Let’s hope this quickly gets passed in parliment and animals across the country can rest a little easier.
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