Turkey sees highest decrease in hotel occupancy rates in Europe

Turkey has seen the steepest decrease in hotel occupancy rates in Europe, excluding Russia, according to STR Global's June figures. 

The hotel occupancy rates were announced as 68.6 percent in June, a 7.6 percent decrease from the same month of 2014.  

"Although the sector has recovered slightly since 2013, we saw another decreasing trend again in the hotel occupancy rates in June mainly due to uncertainties in Turkey, the holy month of Ramadan and parliamentary elections," said head of the Touristic Hoteliers Investors' Association (TUROB), Timur Bay?nd?r, in a written statement July 23. 

He called for all authorities and sector representatives to take comprehensive measures to reverse this negative trend. 

The hotel occupancy rates across Turkey increased by 2.3 percent to 62.5 percent in the first half of the year, compared to the same period of the previous year, according to STR Global. 

Istanbul's hotel occupancy rates decreased by 7.9 percent in June to 66.6 percent compared to the same month of 2014. This also represented one of the steepest decreases in Europe's largest cities, according to STR Global. Only Moscow saw a higher decrease than Istanbul, with a 64.4 percent hotel occupancy rate. 

The hotel prices have also been decreasing. While an average of room price per night was 149.1 euros in Istanbul in June 2014, this figure was slashed down to 134.5 euros in June of this year, according official data. The revenue per available room (RevPAR) also decreased by 16.9 percent in June to 89.6 euros, compared to the same month of the previous year. 

The hotel occupancy rates in Istanbul increased from 64.7 percent in the first half of the year to 66.8 percent this year. 

Antalya figures...