Falling Russian ruble could damage Turkish tourism

The quick depreciation of the Russian ruble against the U.S. dollar might affect Turkish tourism, warned Yusuf Hacısalihoğlu, head of the Association of Mediterranean Tourism and Hoteliers of Turkey (AKTOB), during a conference in the Turkish resort of Antalya on Nov. 28.

In the opening speech of the international conference titled “Tourism of Future, Future of Tourism,” Hacısalihoğlu asked the government to take preventive and supportive steps for the 2015 season.
The ruble has depreciated by 30 percent against the dollar in 2014, mainly due to U.S. and European Union sanctions because of the crisis with Ukraine; both Russia and Ukraine, of course, are Turkey’s northern neighbors across the Black Sea. The Russian losses reached $40 billion due to the Ukrainian sanctions and $100 billion due to falling oil and gas prices this year, the Russian Finance Ministry stated earlier in November.

More than 4.2 million Russian tourists visited Turkey in 2013, coming second only to the 5 million plus Germans who came out of the total of nearly 35 million. “That makes Turkey the sixth most tourist receiving country in the world,” said Osman Ayık, the head of Turkey’s Tourism and Hoteliers Federation (TUROFED), during the conference. “More than 12 million of those tourists were hosted in Antalya alone.”

Antalya has actually gained importance for Turkey in the political field as well. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announced that the government was prepared to host the G-20 Summit in November 2015 there. Menderes Türel, the mayor of the city, underlined the importance of having Expo 2016 in Antalya.

Russians are number two in overall guests in Turkey but number one in Antalya at more than 3.3 million. But as Hakan AteÅ...