Kaan

The word "miracle" can best describe the performance of the Turkish tourism industry last year, when the country suffered from devastating earthquakes and geopolitical troubles impacted the sector, says Kaan Kavaloğlu, the president of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers and Operators Association (AKTOB).

Representatives of the tourism industry are hopeful that domestic and international tourism activity will gather momentum around New Year's Eve.

Hotels are preparing to welcome Turkish holidaymakers as well as Europeans starting Dec. 24, while Russian tourists are expected to start to arrive in the county from Jan. 6.

The Republican People's Party (CHP) witnessed a political upheaval at its 38th ordinary congress, as the party's newly elected chairman, Özgür Özel, faced internal dissent from within his own ranks during the election for the party council (PM), the highest executive body of the CHP.

The soaring demand for short-term rentals is gravely affecting the performance of hotels, which has necessitated the need for new regulations and taxes on short-term rentals recently proposed by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, a tourism sector representative has said.

Hoteliers seem hopeful that the strong tourism activity witnessed during the nine-day Eid al-Adha holiday will maintain its momentum until the fall.

Tens of thousands of holidaymakers flocked to resort towns along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts during Eid, with some hotels in those destinations fully booked.

Around 100,000 foreign tourists are arriving by air in Antalya each day, according to Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, while the number of international holidaymakers visiting the Mediterranean resort reached 5 million.

"We have made a good start to the tourism season. Hopefully more tourists will visit the city in the coming months" he said.

Turkey will continue to "annoy those on the other side of the sea," the country's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said on Monday in what is seen as a fresh swipe against Greece following a thaw in relations between the two countries.

Many hotels in the southern province of Antalya, the capital of tourism, embraced quake survivors after the earthquake disasters that affected 11 provinces.

A total of 200 accommodation centers across the city are hosting 85,000 disaster victims.

A delegation from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) had meetings with the members of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Erbil in northern Iraq on Sept. 5.

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