Türkiye aims to achieve all-time high tourism revenues this year, according to tourism representatives, including Kaan Kaşif Kavaloğlu, the head of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers and Operators Association (AKTOB).

Kavaloğlu expressed the country’s ambition to achieve a target of $60 billion (TL 1.16 trillion) in tourism revenues, saying: "We expect this year to surpass all previous years in tourism revenues."

He was speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) about the World Tourism Fair held in Berlin, which provided them with preliminary data for 2023, estimated to be 30% higher than last year.

Kavaloğlu highlighted the impressive turnout at Türkiye's booth and noted that the fair was exclusively for tourism professionals. He added: "Türkiye and Antalya have a significant appeal for all tour operators, especially those from England, Germany, and the Benelux and Western European countries. Our highest recorded data was in 2019, and I anticipate that the number of tourists visiting this year will not be less than 15 million."

Kavaloğlu emphasized that they do not anticipate a reduction in the number of tourists arriving from Western Europe and Russia, citing the global recognition of the high-quality service they provided throughout the pandemic.

In addition, Kavaloğlu highlighted their commitment to providing safe and healthy tourism services, stating: "Türkiye and particularly Antalya are indispensable for global tourism. We have a significant advantage in terms of cost-benefit analysis for consumers, and nearly 99% of our tourists return home satisfied."

European market

Kavaloğlu highlighted the recent surge in input costs of tourism, emphasizing the need to focus on increasing revenues instead of just the number of tourists.

"Currently, our average overnight sales prices are almost at the same level as Spain, around $95. Italy and France are ahead of us at $115. Greece is $90, just $5 behind us. We are lagging behind. If we can increase our average overnight sales prices to above $100 in the long run, it will have a significant impact on our package sales. It is crucial to increase both the number of tourists and our revenues, and we need to focus on both simultaneously," Kavaloğlu explained.

The tourism official also mentioned that their hotels receive significant numbers of tourists from Western Europe, including the U.K., Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Additionally, there is a tourist profile from the Middle East who prefers to spend the holy Islamic month of Ramadan in Türkiye.

In anticipation of an active season, Kavaloğlu expressed his expectation that Russia would be the top market, followed by Germany and the U.K. He added that the European market seems to be performing better than last year and that all tour operators currently selling to Türkiye are on the plus side.

Meanwhile, according to Hacı Osman Üçdan, the owner of a chain of hotels and a tourism operator, most of their hotels are already fully booked, and they expect to have a full season in 2023.

Üçdan emphasized that their facilities have been renovated to offer professional tourism services. "We are confident that we will exceed our target of $60 billion in tourism revenues. Our reservations are very good, with 65% of early reservations already sold. We are fully booked from June to October," he said.