Early bookings signal strong summer tourism

Early bookings for summer from domestic holidaymakers have been promising, boosting hopes among hoteliers that this will be a good season for the local tourism industry.

Companies started to collect early bookings in December.

Local travelers' interest has been strong, said the representatives of the tourism industry, noting that the most favorite destinations for this summer are the provinces of Antalya and Muğla as well as Cyprus.

Booking data suggest that tourism activity is returning to pre-pandemic levels, they said.

"We have made a good start to 2024. We are having the best early booking season ever," said Kaan Kavaloğlu, the president of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers and Investors Association (AKTOB).

Demand for early bookings has grown about 30 percent compared to last year, said Güray Günay, the general manager at Tatil Dükkanı, an online booking platform.

Tourism activity gained momentum in the past couple of months due to the End al-Fitr, Nevruz and Easter holidays, Kavaloğlu said, noting that more tourists are likely to arrive in Antalya as there will be national holidays in the Netherlands, Germany, Russia and Türkiye [the Eid al-Adha] in the coming weeks.

Kavaloğlu voiced optimism that Antalya is on track to welcome a record more than 17 million tourists this year.

More than 2 million foreign tourists arrived in Antalya by air in the first four months of 2024, marking a 14 percent increase from a year ago.

In April alone, tourist arrivals surged nearly 5 percent annually to surpass 1 million people.

Germans topped the list of foreign holidaymakers with 540,000 visitors, followed by Russians at 367,000 and Britons came third at 266,000.