Open for Ukrainians since July 1, Turkey has become a hot spot for tourists, with more than 500,000 Ukrainians flocking to its resorts in spite of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ukrainian Yana Lukiya, 23, and Canadian-born Michael Lahoda, 26, tech entrepreneurs who live in Kyiv, were among them.
At the end of August, the couple went to Istanbul, the country’s scenic historic center, a bustling city of 15 million people facing the Sea of Marmara and built across the Bosphorus Strait.
They chose the destination because it was open to Ukrainians, accessible by a two-hour flight and affordable, Lahoda told the Kyiv Post on Oct. 20. Overall, affordable prices are part of Turkey’s tourism success, alongside spectacular hospitality, according to him.
“The people there were super nice, prices were slightly more expensive than in some fancy restaurant in Kyiv, for example, but not a huge difference,” he said.
Despite the COVID‑19 pandemic, Turkey managed to keep its tourism sector afloat by offering cheap and easy-to-organize holidays to Ukrainians who cannot travel to the European Union as easily as before the coronavirus hit the world.
Tourism flow
Global travel restrictions hit the tourism sector hard.
Turkey’s latest data showed that Turkey had 5.4 million foreign visitors from January to September 2020, a 78% decline since 2019, when it welcomed over 45 million foreign tourists.
Over 520,000 Ukrainian nationals traveled to Turkey since July 1, when the borders opened, according to data that Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Turkish Statistical Institute released on Oct. 1.
Since July, Ukrainian tourists have represented 15% of foreign visitors, making them the fourth largest nationality after Germans, Russians and Bulgarians.
Antalya, a resort city located in the south facing the Mediterranean Sea, Turkey’s most popular tourist destination, welcomed more than 1 million tourists between Jan. 1 and Aug. 19, among them 300,000 Ukrainians.
The majority of them came through all-inclusive packages, which does not bring in massive revenue per capita, but ensures a continuous flow of visitors attracted by low prices.
Taken individually, a trip costs an average of $300 for one person, hotel and flight tickets included.
Up to 70% of Ukrainian tourists use an all-inclusive package that includes flight tickets and accommodations for an average of 1,000 euros for a family of three ($1,100), bought through the websites of tour operators such as Anex Tour, a Turkey-based tour agency which has offices in Ukraine.
If tourists continue to arrive at this level and the pandemic remains under control with no second wave, the industry can generate $15 billion by the end of the year, according to the Turkish media outlet Daily Sabah.
It is far from the $34 billion worth of revenue in 2019, but this still means Turkey’s tourism policy is a success, according to French journalist Sebastien Gobert, 35, who went there with his Ukrainian wife Halya Shyyan for a week on Sept. 12.
Gobert told the Kyiv Post on Oct. 21 that Turkey’s popularity with Ukrainians is easy to understand, as it is the only country with direct flight access for holidays.
Even though Ukrainians can now go to 48 countries freely, the closest countries in Eastern Europe are hard to reach by plane, he said.
“For Montenegro and Croatia, you have to go through other airports and the journeys easily take 10 hours, if not more,” he said.
Like Lahoda, for Gobert, the key factors are the prices and short direct flights. The biggest controversy, however, is that adherence to COVID‑19 restrictions is laxer in Turkey than the government says.
Managing COVID‑19
Masks are mandatory on the streets, and, according to visitors, everyone wears masks in touristic sites, “even though they are bustling,” Lahoda said.
However, after the hotel staff carried out all the required cleaning procedures against COVID‑19, the mandatory mask requirement was not always respected, he said.
“It’s really the same as Ukraine regarding masks: Some people wear them, some don’t,” he said.
Gobert echoed this statement, saying he had the same feeling of safety as in Ukraine, where the number of infections surpassed 300,000 as of Oct. 20 and more than 6,000 new cases are reported per day.
“But still, in Turkey, most of the people are wearing masks outside, there is hydro-alcoholic gel everywhere, and life has not stopped,” he added.
Officials keep saying COVID‑19 is not an issue for travel safety, despite the fact that Turkey had 9,371 deaths, with over 2,000 cases per day as of Oct. 20, according to the World Health Organization.
Birol Akman, chairman of the Anatolian Tourism Operators Association and board member of the Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency on Aug. 23 that Turkey is safe for travelers.
“Some might think rules have been loosened in the Mediterranean region, but that’s not true — inspections continue and health measures are still in place,” Akman said.
Turkey opened its borders on July 1, after introducing the Safe Tourism Certificate Program on June 24 to boost tourism. The comprehensive program includes COVID‑19 insurance packages and special certification for hotels.
Upon arrival, foreign visitors can buy insurance packages for 15 to 23 euros at the airport or through their tour operator. This allows them to have access to health care and cover health expenses of up to 7,000 euros.
Hotels with a Safe Tourism Certificate are also required to disinfect luggage, provide free masks and a safe isolation room to patients who tested positive so they can isolate inside their hotels.
Hotels are obliged to reserve one isolation room per every 50 regular rooms, and they cannot accommodate COVID‑19-positive visitors with others on the same floor. If they don’t have a choice, they must leave at least two rooms next to the isolation room empty.
A special team serves COVID‑19 positive visitors, receives regular health screenings and does not leave the premises.
If hotels do not follow those rules, they can lose their certificate and thus cannot operate, a strong stance aimed at ensuring trust in the country’s management of COVID‑19.
For Gobert, Turkey was a good vacation destination.
He recalled his experience in a hot air balloon in Cappadocia, where he admired the natural wonders of the world-famous “fairy chimneys” in the province of central Turkey, surrounded by tourists from western Europe, eastern Europe and Russia.
He said it was a sign the industry was flourishing, despite the pandemic.
“The Turks made a very smart calculation to support their tourism, and it worked,” he said.
