Hotel Association of Turkey

The Michelin Guide has said it will unveil its first restaurant selection for Istanbul in October this year.

"Istanbul, which is a first-rate gastronomy destination, impressed our team. Michelin Guide will now introduce this city to gourmets from all around the world," Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide, told a press conference in Istanbul on April 21.

The latest data boosted morale and hopes among Turkey's hoteliers that the local tourism industry's performance would be much stronger this year.

Foreign tourist arrivals in Turkey soared 94 percent to 24.7 million people last year while the country's tourism revenues surged 103 percent to $24.5 billion, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Turkey will attract a record high number of Russian tourists this year with a significant increase from last year, when 4.7 million Russian travelers flocked to the country, the Hotel Association of Turkey (TÜROB) has predicted.

Iranian holidaymakers will flock to Turkey during the Nevruz holiday, Hotel Association of Turkey (TÜROB) President Timur Bayındır said in a statement, adding that Istanbul and the eastern province of Van will be their favorite destinations.

Some 2.5 million Iranian tourists visited Turkey in 2017, making the country the top destination for Iranian holidaymakers, according to a report published by the Hotel Association of Turkey (TÜROB).

Hotel occupancy rates in Istanbul surged nearly 100 percent in July compared to the same month of last year but hotel revenues continued to decline, falling to around a third of hotels in cities such as Paris, the Hotel Association of Turkey (TÜROB) has stated. 

A court has rejected an objection by online reservation website Booking.com against a suspension of its activities in Turkey.

The site was suspended in March due to following accusations of a local sector association against the website over unfair competition concerns. 

Dozens of legal and real persons flocked to the courtroom to voice their opposition to a Booking.com ban, citing the losses they have incurred from the decision, daily Dünya reported on May 22. 

Representatives from a top brand city hotel said their losses exceeded 85,000 euros, while a boutique hotel owner said they had lost around 16,000 euros. 

Hotels in Istanbul experienced the biggest decline in both revenue per available room (RevPAR) and average daily rate (ADR), a measure of the average rate paid for rooms sold, among all European destinations in January, as the city's hotel occupancy rates continued to decline, fresh data showed. 

The East Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Exhibition (EMITT) has opened its doors in Istanbul on the same day the Hotel Association of Turkey (TÜROB) announced that hotel occupancy rate in Turkey was the lowest in Europe in 2016, with only 50.8 percent of the total number of rooms being full. EMITT has triumphed as the world's fifth largest fair in the past 21 years.