Türkiye can lure many more foreign tourists into the country if it diversifies products and services it offers to travelers, according to the representatives of the industry.
Turkey goes into lockdown
But foreign tourists will be exempt from these rules. Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has said that the country s most visited and important museums and archaeological sites would remain open. In some ways, being a tourist in Turkey is beneficial, said Ersoy on Tuesday.
The idea is that a strict lockdown now will salvage the season later. Turkey is particularly popular with tourists from Russia and other parts of Europe, including Germany.
The country s economy is already in crisis, and the resorts and hotels on the Mediterranean and Aegean coast cannot afford another year like 2020. Last year, tourist numbers dropped by some 15.9 million people, according to the national statistics agency, and the tourism sector suffered losses of €8.3 billion ($10.1 billion). Revenue fell by 65%, and more than 320,000 people lost their jobs.