SPAIN: Spain Is Over Booked, Tourists Heading For Greece, Portugal And Italy

Higher prices and over crowding in Spain are expected to boost tourism to cheaper destinations including Greece, according to TUI Group.

According to media reports, TUI Chief Executive Officer Fritz Joussen said that the high demand for Spain in the last two years has led to rising prices and this may in turn benefit other more affordable destinations.

At the same time, holidaymakers have turned away from Eastern Mediterranean and Northern Africa destinations for fear of terror activity there opting instead for Spain, Greece, Portugal and Italy.

Joussen estimates that Spain will repeat last year’s records benefitting greatly from its blooming tourism sector but is faced with new challenges which must be addressed effectively.

Greece, in the meantime, may be more affordable compared to Spain but prices there are also increasing combined with a series of new taxes including a highly debated overnight surcharge to be charged by hotels next year which are bound to take a toll on its tourism growth as Turkey tries to lure tourists back with very low prices.

TUI said it aims to boost capacity to Turkey next summer.




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TURKEY: Turkey Depends A Lot On German Tourists But Sanctions Could Hurt Both,Not Good For Tourism

Turkey has rejected German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel's strong criticism Thursday of Ankara's detention of six human rights activists, including a German national.

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin described the criticism as unfortunate, but said Ankara remains committed to German-Turkish relations.

Gabriel criticized Ankara for detaining the rights activists and for a wider crackdown following a failed coup last year in Turkey.

The German foreign minister announced a number of measures cautioning German nationals on the risk of visiting Turkey, and the dangers' of arbitrary arrests.

The six activists are being held on suspicion of supporting a terrorist organization, a charge widely used in the detention of more than 50,000 people since Turkey's introduction of emergency rule.

Ten German nationals have been detained in the crackdown so far.

Turkey appears to be downplaying Gabriel's comments. We think that those unfortunate statements are about internal politics aimed at the approaching elections in Germany, Kalin said. Germany holds general elections in September.

Kalin also said that Turkey's judiciary was independent and that Germany's legal system unfairly treated Turkish citizens who have been accused of espionage.

German authorities have accused Turkish nationals, including imams sent by Turkey's religious affairs directorate, of spying on critics of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In 2015, three Turkish nationals were arrested for spying. Turkish media reported one of those detained was close to Erdogan.

Tensions have been simmering between the two NATO allies for several years, but last July's failed coup has brought those tensions to a boiling point.

Ankara accuses Berlin of harboring people involved in the failed coup, while the German government counters that Turkish officials have failed to provide evidence to back their claims.

German Foreign Minister Gabriel also warned of the risks of investing in Turkey.

The warning follows German media reports that Ankara has compiled a list of German companies operating in Turkey that are being investigated for links to suspected coup conspirators. Among them were industrial giants Daimler and BASF. Turkish officials have denied the reports.

Hundreds of Turkish companies, worth billions of dollars, have been seized under emergency rule because of alleged links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Ankara blames Gulen for the failed coup. Gulen denies the allegation.

Germany is Turkey's largest trading partner, and many German companies have been based in the country for decades.

Turkish financial markets recorded only moderate falls following Berlin's threats. There are doubts that Berlin is prepared to follow through on the threats.

Trade is very lively between Turkey and Germany and the rest of Europe at the moment, but it's a double-edged knife, as any sanctions will hurt both sides.

Turkey's valuable tourism industry could be most vulnerable, according to analysts.

The German foreign minister's advice to its own citizens it might not be safe to go to Turkey is kind of scary, said Atilla Yesilada, a political consultant for Global Source Partners.

It's not going to be good for tourism. Some of the late reservations could be affected; a lot of Europeans use Turkey as a last resort, so the effect could be substantial.

Yesilada says Berlin's warning that $3.4 billion in European Union aid could be at risk is more important. The aid is in exchange for Turkey controlling refugees entering Europe.

The incentive for retaliation on the Turkish side would be immense, i.e., to relax the supervision of Syrian refuges allowing them to sail off to across the Aegean Sea to Greece, or cross the Turkish-Bulgarian border.

That would mean all-out war between Turkey and EU,Yesilada said.

More than one million migrants escaping war and persecution in Africa and the Middle East crossed into Europe in 2015, the International Organization for Migration estimated.

Despite new pressure from Berlin, Ankara defends its crackdown and shows no sign of giving any concessions.

This week's Cabinet reshuffle sends a message. The foreign minister, interior minister, EU minister are all hardliners in supporting the crackdown, all kept their jobs. So a change is not on the books,Yesilada said.



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TURKEY: US To Lift Laptop Ban On Flights From Ataturk AirportI

The United States is set to lift a ban on carrying large electronic devices, such as laptops, in the cabin of Us-bound flights from Turkey's main international airport, Turkish Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan said on Tuesday.

Arslan was quoted by state-run news agency Anadolu as saying the ban would be lifted on July 5 following a visit by a Us delegation.

Its removal would come after Turkey began using highly sophisticated tomography devices for X-ray and ultrasound at Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport, he said.

US officials are to inspect the machines on Wednesday.

With this confirmation mission, the ban will be lifted from Ataturk airport and from Turkish Airlines, Arslan said.

So it is an advantage for us that this hasn't gone on too long, he added. Ataturk is the only airport in Turkey with direct flights to the United States.

Late Monday, Turkish Airlines chief executive Bilal Eksi said on Twitter he expected the ban to be lifted on Wednesday.

Arslan was quoted by NTV television as saying Turkey had also been talking with Britain about removing its ban on the transport of laptops in cabin baggage from Istanbul.

Britain imposed the ban on laptops on direct flights originating from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey.

Flag-carrier Turkish Airlines, which has seen exponential international growth in recent years, had responded to the ban by offering laptops to business-class travellers in May.

The US on Sunday lifted a ban on passengers taking such devices on Etihad Airways flights from its base in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi, the first airliner to benefit from a removal of the ban

The decision came after the airline implemented enhanced security measures, a spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security said.

The ban was put into place after intelligence officials learned of efforts by Islamic State jihadists to produce a bomb that could be secreted inside such devices.


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TURKEY: Turkey Tourism Falls By 25% in Oct, 2.45 MillionTourists Visited Turkey in October,

Tourism, which adds about $30 billion to the country’s GDP each year, has been hammered after a spate of bombings this year.

Visitors to Turkey fell by a quarter in October, official data showed on Tuesday, the smallest contraction in seven months as arrivals from Russia showed a marked recovery after Ankara restored ties with Moscow.

Tourism, which adds about $30 billion to gross domestic product each year, has been hammered after a spate of bombings this year, including an attack on Istanbul’s main airport, and a failed coup in July, scared away Western European tourists.

But the drop-off in Russian tourists, who traditionally flock to Turkey’s Mediterranean beaches and make pilgrimages to its Byzantium-era Orthodox churches, had been particularly painful.

Relations soured after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane over Syria last year. Ties were formally restored in August, sparking hopes for an improvement in tourism.

“With the lifting of Russian sanctions it appears that side has to a large extent returned to normal,” said Deniz Cicek, an economist at QNB Finansbank.

Still, a full recovery in tourism would require bigger changes.

“It is necessary for security worries to lessen and that is dependent on geopolitical developments,” he told Reuters.

A total of 2.45 million tourists visited Turkey in October, the data from the Tourism Ministry showed, representing a 25.79 per cent drop from the previous year.

The number of tourists from Russia dropped 2.8 per cent year-on-year. In the previous month they had fallen by more than 60 per cent.

The numbers from Western Europe remain grim, with the number British and German visitors, two traditionally big sources of tourism, both down by more than 30 per cent.

TURKEY: 1,318 Hotels & Resorts For Sale, Affected By Russian Sanctions And Terrorists

As many as 1,318 hotels have been put up for sale along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts after Russian sanctions along with security concerns hit Turkey's tourism industry hard.

The Mediterranean resort of Antalya has the highest number of tourism facilities, 410 that are listed for sale, followed by the provinces of Muğla, which has 349 for sale; İzmir, 203; Aydın, 162; Balıkesir, 139; Çanakkale, 35 and Denizli, which has 20 in total listed.

The total sale price of the 410 hotels in Antalya amounts to TL 30 billion, while the remaining 908 have sale prices of a total of TL 8.8 billion.
Denizli Colossae Thermal Chairman Abdurrahman Karamanlıoğlu said a number of hotels in resort towns were left on the brink of bankruptcy after Russia imposed sanctions against Turkey after the latter downed a Russian warplane in November last year.

“We talk the realities but officials put a brave face on the issue. We have been heavily affected from the jet crisis. Especially the hotels in Antalya; being closed for the last four months, most of those are on the verge of bankruptcy,” Karamanlıoğlu said.

Nearly two months after Russia advised its citizens to cancel their visits to Turkey, an Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant blew up himself and 10 tourists; most of whom were German, in central İstanbul earlier this month, adding more turmoil to an already stagnant industry.
Russians and Germans represented the two largest groups of nationalities that visited Turkey in 2014. Turkey's tourism revenues fell 8.3 percent to $31.46 billion in 2015.

A large number of hotels in resort towns were left on the brink of bankruptcy after Russia imposed sanctions against Turkey, according the managing director of the Denizli Colossae Thermal Hotel, Abdurrahman Karamanlıoglu.

Moscow imposed sanctions after a Russian warplane was shot down by a Turkish fighter jet during combat operations in northern Syria. Sanctions included reintroducing a visa regime, and a travel warning against Russian tourists visiting the country. Travel agencies in Russia stopped selling tour packages to Turkey on the request by the Kremlin.

The measure added more turmoil to an already stagnant industry. Turkey's tourism revenue fell 8.3 percent to $31.46 billion in 2015, according to the Turkish online daily Today’s Zaman. The tourism industry accounts for 11 percent of Turkey's GDP.

The Turkish tourism ministry expects to lose 4.5 million tourists from Russia this year. As a result, the country could lose about $7 billion, according to analysts.