A mixture of a brand new visa program and decrease general bills is driving a surge of Turkish vacationers to the Greek Islands, business officers and vacationers report.
Engin Celik, a college instructor from Ankara, just lately loved a four-day journey to Rhodes, a well-liked tourism vacation spot within the South Aegean, together with his spouse below a brand new visa program.
“The entire journey value me round 30 p.c lower than a trip in a Turkish resort,” Celik mentioned, including it’s handy below the brand new visa program.
Launched in April, the brand new visa scheme permits Turks to go to 10 Aegean islands of Greece close to the Turkish coast for as much as every week without having a full Schengen Space visa.
Specialists say the transfer goals to not solely appeal to vacationers but in addition enhance relations between Türkiye and Greece.
“The variety of Turks vacationing on the Greek Islands has elevated by 100%” because the visa scheme started, in keeping with Hamit Kuk of the Affiliation of Turkish Journey Businesses.
“Turks flocked there through the Eid al-Adha competition in mid-June as a result of it was extra reasonably priced,” Kuk mentioned, attributing the development to decrease taxes on meals and alcohol in Greece.
Türkiye has been grappling with persistently excessive inflation and a depreciated Turkish lira. Whereas overseas vacationers profit from the weak lira, home tourism suffers as buying energy weakens. Cheaper choices exterior Türkiye have change into extra enticing.
In the meantime, Turkish Tradition and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy emphasised that Türkiye gives a wider vary of locations with aggressive costs within the Mediterranean.
Over the previous decade, Türkiye has made important investments in its important tourism business. Final 12 months, it noticed a document of overseas arrivals at 49.2 million, up from 44.6 million in 2022, producing a complete earnings of over 54 billion U.S. {dollars}, in keeping with the official statistics.
“For a brief trip of 4 or 5 days, Greek islands could be extra reasonably priced. Nevertheless, for a two-week vacation, Türkiye gives discounted tour choices in comparison with Greece,” mentioned Esra Demir, a journey company affiliate from the Ankara-based Solar Excursions, informed Xinhua.
Home vacationers are setting their sights on September or October holidays when costs are anticipated to fall dramatically in comparison with the height summer time months of July and August, Demir added. ■
