Russian Tourists to Surpass Germans in Turkey by 2010

Russia is set to outpace Germany and rank first in terms of tourist visits to Turkey in 2010, a tourism representative said. This year there was a 30 percent increase in the number of tourists from the Commonwealth of Independent States, or CIS, and Russia compared to last year, said Ayhan Bektas, chairman of OTI Holding, a group of tour operators that focuses on Russia, Eastern Europe and the CIS. “This market will continue to grow. Russia will become Turkey's largest market in tourism by the end of 2010. The number of those arriving from Russia and CIS will surpass Germans.”Speaking at an OTI meeting, Bektas said Russia is expected to rank first with 3.5 to 4 million tourists at the end of 2010. After Turkey's admitted the region as a mass market, the prices will gain an upward trend in the medium segment, he said. The number of tourists coming from Russia increased 33 percent as of the end of June, said Bektas, adding that this rate is 5.6 percent for Germany. The number of the tourists coming from Poland, Eastern Europe and CIS countries rose around 20 percent.

Bektas also commented on the profitability problem in the sector. OTI collected $675 million in turnover but will still fail to attain the profitability target, he said. “Cost and profit balance is important. Consolidation will be ongoing in the upcoming period. Despite noteworthy package sales and number of passengers, profitability is low.”