Nine-day holiday during Ramadan Bayram generates TL 12 billion Turkish tourism revenue

Monday, June 10, 2019

The nine-day holiday break during Ramadan Bayram, which is also known as Eid al-Fitr, has created a swirl and led to a notable boom in tourism sector in Turkey. From east to west and north to south, local and foreign tourists swarmed all parts of Turkey, while hotels across the country reached their full capacities.

There are some 3 million tourists are reported to have flocked to the Aegean region, while over a million people decided to spend the holiday in the Mediterranean basin. Another 100,000 local and foreign tourists flocked to the Black Sea region, while 15,000 people stayed in the Cappadocia region, famous for its fairy chimneys and rich history. Over 200,000 people participated in Southern Anatolia tours covering Adıyaman, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, and Mardin. Finally, the Turkish tourism authorities say the nine-day holiday is estimated to have created revenue of around TL 12 billion.

Ramadan Bayram was planned to officially start on June 4 and end on June 6. But Turkish authorities signed a circular declaring that July 3 (a Monday) and July 7 (a Friday) would also be holidays, effectively creating a nine-day public holiday, including the two weekends.

The Turkish Travel Agencies Association (TÜRSAB) Chairman Firuz Bağlıkaya said the extension of the holiday to nine days and its early announcement created a boom in demand. There was an interest that even exceeded our expectations,” Bağlıkaya said. Their forecast was to create a volume of TL 10 billion during the holiday. No official figure has been announced yet, but they envisage a 20 percent increase and an economy exceeding TL 12 billion. A significant stop of both local and foreign tourists during the holiday was the Black Sea region, which hosted more than 100,000 people. The population of Düzce’s Akçakoca district, which is normally around 25,000, increased five-fold during the holiday. Local and foreign tourists flocked to Kartepe, a famous resort located in Turkey’s Kocaeli province.

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