When the Russian government announced in April that it was suspending all charter flights to Turkey, officially citing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, the country feared a disastrous tourist season.
It was bad news for Turkey’s hospitality industry, which counted on at least 7 million Russian tourists this year to make up for 2020’s weak pandemic season.
However, in a change of fates, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky propped up the Turkish tourism industry for the holiday season by urging Ukrainians to vacation there.
As a result, Ukrainian tourism boomed in Turkey, and the trend continues. According to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, 2 million Ukrainian tourists are expected to visit Turkey by the end of the year.
The largest tour operator in Ukraine, Join Up!, which also owns the cheap and popular Ukrainian low cost airline SkyUp, recorded one of its best years on record.
Turkish tourism took just 18% of the Ukrainian market in 2015. By comparison, in 2021, Turkey attracted around 44% of Ukrainian tourists, according to Join Up! statistics.
Katerina Artyukh, the head of development at Join UP!, told the Kyiv Post that the tour operator was eager to maintain the surge in tourism after the successful season.
“Even for the current unfavorable conditions, this summer, we managed to achieve good results,” Artyukh said.
This aerial picture taken on April 25, 2020 shows the Sultanahmet mosque, known as the Blue mosque, in Istanbul. Turkey is a favourite destination for Ukrainian tourists. In 2021, the average cost of a tourist package to Turkey was just $329 per person. (AFP)
Tour operator success
Ukrainians visited the touristic city of Antalya, located on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, in droves over the past year. More than 1.1 million Ukrainians visited the tourism hotspot in 2021, the highest level on records, even before the start of the pandemic.
Antalya saw a staggering 147% increase in the number of Ukrainian visitors in 2020–2021.
This travel was encouraged by a passport-free travel agreement between the two nations put in place in 2017, as well as an increasingly Ukrainian-friendly tourist market in Turkey.
According to Artyukh, Turkey is both extremely profitable and affordable for Ukrainian consumers. All inclusive holidays continue to be a driving factor for tourists.
“99% of our tourists take all inclusive holidays, and this destination ticks all the boxes,” she said.
“Turkey has excellent opportunities for both sea and city recreation.”
Upen Sharma, administrative director of Satguru Travel in Ukraine, an Indian international tour operator with a presence in more than 68 countries worldwide, concurred with Artyukh.
The influx of Ukrainian had encouraged more resorts to switch toward an all-inclusive model, he said, as Ukrainian travelers tend to be more price savvy.
For Sharma, Ukrainians travel to Turkey because of convenient charter airline services and low prices.
He also pointed out how easy it is to cross the border.
“The main reason why so many Ukrainians are visiting Turkey is because they can travel without a passport,” he said.
“And now, it’s cheaper to go to Turkey than to go on holiday in Ukraine.”
Affordable, hospitable
Robert Markov, a Kyiv resident, travelled with his partner to Istanbul in September. He chose Turkey because of its proximity, good weather, child-friendly hotels, and all-inclusive options.
Despite pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many hotels and tour operators to invest in new social distancing and sanitary measures, prices for package holidays to Turkey have remained stable.
In the first half of 2021, the average price of a tourist package to Turkey from Ukraine decreased from $373 to $329 per person, according to Turkish tourism publication Turizm Ajansi.
Up to 70% of Ukrainian tourists going to Turkey used an all-inclusive package that includes flight tickets and accomodation for an average of $1,100 for a family of three in 2020, according to Anex Tour, a Turkey-based tour agency which has offices in Ukraine.
Ukrainians also noticed that Turkish resorts’ personnel were keen to talk to them in Ukrainian. Turkish tourist destinations, formerly dominated by Russian tourism, are now making efforts to attract Ukrainianspeaking tourists.
In June, Kharkiv native Tania Stoliarova travelled to Marmaris on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. Stoliarova visited the resort area when Russians were not able to travel to the region.
She told the Kyiv Post that the Turkish tourism industry adapted to accommodate the influx of Ukrainians, by speaking their language instead of Russian.
Stoliarova travelled to Turkey because it was highly recommended by her friends and family.
The Turkish government has now rolled out Ukrainian audio tours of several key cultural locations in Cappadocia, Istanbul, and Ionia.
For many Ukrainians, hearing Ukrainian is very important in a tourism industry largely dominated by Russian.
“It was very nice to see and hear when the Turks greeted or thanked us in Ukrainian, or switched to Ukrainian entirely,” Stoliarova said.
