Concerns Raise On Cancellations İn Tourism Over Tension İn Turkey

The Turkish Hotels Federation (TUROFED) urged the beginning of an unpredictable process with regard to the tourism sector in Turkey, after the Suruç massacre, followed by air operations over the PKK (Peoples' Democratic Party) and ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) targets.

Federation chairman Osman Ayık warned "Until now, cancellations of reservations were not at stake. However if the violence climb up, cancellations might be brought to agenda in the future" pointing to the concerns of security among the tourists after the blast in Suruç.

Antalya Professional Tourist Guide Chamber Hasan Uysal added that these concerns also involve tour operators' doubts over sending tourists to Turkey. "Among tourist groups, discussions about the terror in Turkey boost. However, until now, these concerns have not come to a point where tourists will change their schedules. But if the violent attacks continue, we fear that this will become a problem".

The number of tourists coming to Antalya has fallen down by 9 percent in the first six month of 2015, particularly after the economic crisis in Russia, the largest tourism market of Turkey. The number of tourists having visited Antalya by plane between January and June in 2014 had been registered as 4.55 million, while the number fell to 4.21 million this year. - Antalya