TURKEY LOSES UKRAINIAN HOLIDAYMAKERS

Chris Grad - Aug 24, 2009
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Ukraine is an important source market for tourism destinations like e.g. Turkey. Nevertheless, due to the bad economic situation less Ukrainians travel to the Eurasian country, which makes tourism related businesses to reduce their prices in order to lure tourists back. Ukrainians pose an important source market for some tourism destinations but their travel behavior changes due to the economic situation, e.g. the devaluation of the Ukrainian currency – hryvnia. Tourism destinations try to lure more tourists in this time of crises by various discounts. Perhaps the greatest reductions in prices could be seen in Tunisian resorts where some hotels have reduced their prices by as much as 30 per cent. Turkey and Egypt, countries that depended on Ukrainian tourists, are experiencing similar problems and making similar steps as Tunisia. They hope to lure more Ukrainians to replace the Germans and English who will not come this year. The question is how successful they will be. The fact is that the number of Ukrainian tourists coming to Turkey has dropped by 21.7 per cent compared to the same period last year. Only some 248,700 Ukrainians have visited the country so far. What more, there are fewer charter flights from Donetsk to Antalya this year than the year before. Officials hope the numbers will be better for the July-August period and they blame the decrease mainly on the difficult economic situation in Ukraine.The latest figures however show that Ukrainian holidaymakers seem to exchange their traditional sun and sea destinations for Crimea, the Ukrainian autonomous republic, where they enjoy their vacation in greater numbers this summer. The growing tourist numbers consequently cause the rates at Crimean hotels to grow 10-20 per cent compared to the last year. Ukrainians see Crimea as a cheaper destination and it is also more convenient for them because of the lack of cultural or language barrier. The truth, however, is that a seven day package in Crimea costs often the same as a similar package in Turkey. Related: EUROPEAN HOLIDAYS OUTSIDE THE EURO ZONE

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