Turkish hotels to close early after UK 'red list' dashes hopes

Copper Giant Resources

03/09/2021 15:41

By Ceyda Caglayan and Canan Sevgili
    ISTANBUL, Sept 3 (Reuters) - When Britain announced Turkey
would stay on its "red list" of travel destinations last week,
Onur Arican decided to close his boutique hotel on the Aegean
coast early this year rather than wait out a summer season
derailed by COVID-19 and wildfires.
    In 2019, Britain was Turkey's third-biggest source of
tourists with 2.5 million visitors that year, most of whom
flocked to the Turquoise Coast near Bodrum and Marmaris, where
Arican runs his 19-room Mavi Yengec hotel.
    This year the number of British guests was down by two
thirds compared to 2019, Arican said, and he was forced to cut a
third of his staff.
    Offering discounts to vacationing Turks has kept the
business going, but alcohol sales were down sharply and he
hadn't bothered to open up his biggest room, he said. 
    Britain imposed COVID-19 travel restrictions on Turkey in
October last year and added it to its "red list" in May, forcing
all travellers to quarantine in a hotel upon return. 
    Hundreds of hotel owners and travel agencies in on Turkey's
southern coast had hoped it would drop the designation last week
as a last chance to save the season, but Britain decided to
extend the restriction until its next review expected on Sept.
15 or 16.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2PU3XC  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2PX1UV
    "Britain's red list opened a fresh can of worms for Turkish
tourism," said Arican. "Due to the absence of the Britons, we
will close on September 15 or maybe even earlier." 
    Turkey's tourism season typically ends in November. The
sector drives more than 10% of the economy, attracting hard
currencies vital to offsetting a heavy trade deficit. 
    Foreign arrivals jumped fourfold from last year thanks to
holidaymakers from Russia, Germany and Arab countries, but they
remain well off 2019 levels. 
    A spate of wildfires last month in which nine people were
killed had already forced many hotels in areas around Marmaris,
Fethiye, Dalaman and Kusadasi to close early.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2PD1GQ
    Yet it was Britain's decision on travel restrictions that
many took as the nail in the coffin for the summer season of
2021.
    In Marmaris alone, about 600 hotels are expected to shut in
coming days due to London's decision last week, said Bulent
Bulbuloglu, chairman of the South Aegean Hoteliers Union.
    "They were all waiting for a last chance for the season, but
after Britain's latest update most of them will be closed by the
first days of September," he said. Many will struggle to survive
until next season, he added. 
    Hotels in the region met with banks and the tourism minister
two weeks ago to discuss loan restructuring. 
    Bank regulator data shows total loans of 114.5 billion lira
($13.8 billion) in Turkey's hotel industry, with non-performing
loans at 4.5 billion lira ($541 million) at the end of July.    
    Can Tolga Eroglu, owner of three hotels near Marmaris, said
only 25 of his 118 total rooms are occupied. Usually 90% of his
guests are from Britain. 
    "Hotels should have 95% occupancy rate these months," Eroglu
said. "Because Turkey was kept on the red list, many facilities
will decide to close. Marmaris seems to have its worst August
and September."
    Menderes Akbulut, general manager of Koral Travel, which
mainly serves the British market, said many small hotels have
already begun to close. "If Britons came, the season would
continue until mid-November," he said.

 (Writing by Ceyda Caglayan; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and
Raissa Kasolowsky)
 ((Ceyda.Caglayan@thomsonreuters.com; +90-212-350 7061; Reuters
Messaging: ceyda.caglayan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))