Will Charter Air Travel Demand Save Turkish Tourism Industry from Losses Amid Lockdown?
After months of waiting, large hub airports are now pleased to welcome travellers from all over the world. The real question is if the travellers are ready to visit Turkey via those crowded flights? Considering the need to maintain social distancing, most travellers are choosing charter air travel over crowded flights. Also, mandatory safety measures have not only increased management costs for the airlines, but also affected the Turkish tourism industry in ways unimaginable earlier.
Despite being the among the first few countries who opened borders for international visitors and introducing stringent measures like the Safe Tourism Certification, the Turkish tourism industry has been subject to huge losses amid the pandemic. Under such circumstances, the rising demand for charter air travel has come across as a ray of hope for hotels, restaurants and cafes, who were earlier booming with international visitors.
Since Turkey has not mandated travellers to undergo quarantine and testing upon arrival, it has remained a hit destination in the future travel list of most travellers. From January to September, the country has registered 11.9 million tourist arrivals from different parts of the world.
As per the Chairperson of Turkish Travel Agencies Association — Firuz Bağlıkaya, Turkey is all set to welcome visitors this winter season, with several tour operators kick-starting charter air travel facilities from various countries.
To aid the Turkish tourism industry from undergoing further losses, special charter flights have been planned for the winter resort towns of Erciyes and Palandöken in the central Turkish province of Kayseri and eastern Erzurum. Several other ski towns are witnessing a hike in demand of charter air travel from abroad, including Kartepe in Kocaeli province, Kartalkaya in Bolu province and Uludağ in Bursa.
Bağlıkaya further stated that the charter tours are likely to start this December 18, in case there are no more problems. To attract Russian and Ukrainian tourists, the Uludağ Ski Center (which mainly attracts domestic visitors) has opened doors for all.
At a time when Covid-19 cases are rising at an alarming rate, Charter air travel seems to be a convenient and safe way to skip layovers and reach places in a comparatively shorter time span. Australian light jet charter operator — GlobeAir claims that in comparison to the 700 contagion touch points on an average commercial flight, a private aviation exposes one to just 20, making them a much safer option.
Although the no quarantine policy of the Turkish tourism industry might attract travellers to visit the country using charter planes, several tourists might avoid visiting after the launch of partial lockdown on November 5. Under the new rules, foreign tourists who are temporarily in the country have been exempted from the curfew bans. Only future will unveil if the rising demand for charter air travel will save the sinking Turkish tourism industry or not.
